


Load CORRUPTED FILE

by Miss_Wisteria_Witch



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Underfell, Forgive me if the storyline is borderline anime, Gen, Implied Relationships, It's been 6 years since I last wrote fanfics, It's not to heavy on the romance stuff though, Multi, Polyamorous relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-29 16:56:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5135387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Wisteria_Witch/pseuds/Miss_Wisteria_Witch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You had it all planned out. A camping trip on Mount Ebott with two people you cared about was going to be the perfect stress reliever from your third year of college. You thought that this was going to the time of your life; a night that you would always remember. Well, you weren't wrong about this being the time of your life. You just didn't think that you would trip down into Mount Ebott and be surrounded by a bunch of monsters that were hell-bent on killing you. If their "edgy" fashion sense doesn't end you first.</p>
<p>On the brightside, both of your companions are by your side. Even if one is a bit too skillful with that knife and the other refuses to fight back at all. Yeah, you'll definitely remember this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Overture

It’s a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing; flowers are blooming. On days like these, kids like you…

Should be back in your apartment studying for that exam. But your two roommates thought that you looked devoid of life the past few weeks, and snatched you out of your trance to hang out in the city. The three of you weren’t exactly kids either, but that didn’t mean you all acted your “sophisticated” age of twenty. You also doubted the possibility of flowers blooming in fall, but you weren’t in your sharpest state of mind and let it slide like how you almost walked out the door in slippers. Luckily, your roommate grabbed two pairs of your shoes and shoved them into their tote bag while the other was dragging you halfway down the stairs. Unwinding at a café, you let out a laugh.

“Did you finally lose it?”

“No,” you replied. “I just never saw myself in this situation when I transferred here.”

“I know what you mean,” said the other one with their tote bag hanging off the shoulder and balancing three drinks in their hands. Once you were all seated comfortably, the light chatter evolved into a vivacious conversation that showcased the group’s antics while living with each other. One story in particular surpassed the rest; a story you all agreed to share for years. The story of how you, Frisk, and Chara became friends.

It was a stormy day when you first found the apartment. You were glad that you trusted your instinct over the weather report that day and had arrived earlier with an umbrella to traverse the city. You set an alarm on your phone ten minutes before the time you were supposed to show up to walk with the landlord. The trip was downright therapeutic for you, strolling in the streets and even splurging a little bit to visit the local art museum with bubble tea in hand. Eventually you came across two people trying to share an umbrella to shield them from the rain. Emphasis on the “trying” part. It seemed more like the person on the right dominated the umbrella and the person on the left occasionally made an attempt to scurry under. You grew increasingly irritated at the situation the longer you observed it to the point where you decided to take action.

“Use mine! I’ll just run!” You handed your umbrella to the person and sprinted in the direction of the apartment. A part of you was disappointed to cutting your adventure short, but the rest of you were giving that warm, fuzzy feeling for completing your daily goal to perform an act of kindness. There was the possibility that you might’ve annoyed the other person, but you shoved that thought aside and focused on finding your way to your new home. The rush of adrenaline that surged through your body helped push you all the way to the entrance until your body decided that you had enough running for one day. The landlord opened the door just in time to see you breathing heavily in your now drenched clothes.

Totally not creepy or suspicious.

“Either you’re the new tenant or someone trying to find shelter.” You wheezed out the word, “tenant,” before she leaned your body against hers to help you stand. She offered to carry you up the stairs since you lived on the fifth floor, but you refused the offer out of guilt. Along the way, she described some of the rules she had and the locations of the fire escape, elevator (that was unavailable due to the repairman visiting), and her house down the block.

“I was afraid that no one was going to show for the room. It’s not exactly top-notch and you have two other people in there. Usually people could only handle one roommate, and even then it’s a hit or miss. Why did you answer the ad, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I’m transferring to the university near here. The price and location were too good to pass up.” You didn’t mention that it was far away from the suburb that you spent most of your life in, because you didn’t want to seem petty. Not to mention, you also put some distance between the pompous assholes you saw every single day in school. You were still baffled at the watermelon incident of 201X. You were having a pleasant chat with the landlord when you arrived at the door.

“That’s weird. Your stuff was supposed to be here,” she said quizzically.

“It might be still at the airport. It wouldn’t be the first time that happened.” She shook her head dismissively, and then pulled out a set of keys. She opened the door in an abrupt manner and let out a sigh of relief. She moved aside to let you see your luggage neatly piled in front of a door, most likely the one to your room. Your future roommates must’ve been eager to welcome you. Or they were planning on rummaging through your stuff. Either way, you could handle them. The apartment space was a mix between modernly chic and cozy, set with a kitchen area and an area for watching the small television. A round table covered with a yellow flower tablecloth was placed in-between with three chairs. The landlord pointed out more things before leaving you alone to fully absorb your surroundings. You told her that you looked forward to living here and she handed you the key when you said your goodbyes. Admiring the view from the terrace along with the miniature garden while it was still raining, you heard rushed stomping from the stairwell.

“C’mon, Frisk! Danny said that they’re already here, but we can still surprise them!”

“Slow down, Chara. I have to carry the pie.” You stood your ground in-between the magenta zinnias and the blue violets. Finally you were going to have faces to match the voices and actions. You saw two faces that you had caught a glimpse of before. You met their smiles with one of your own when you noticed your umbrella hanging off one of their wrists by its strap.


	2. Mementos from the Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't expect this kind of feedback for the first chapter and I just wanted to say thank you a million times.  
> But I don't have enough space for that, so have this instead:
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH I WAS SO AFRAID ABOUT WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE I WOULD GET BUT YOU GUYS JUST MADE ME CRY TEARS OF JOY OH MY GOSH I LOVE YOU ALL!

Your welcoming party was quite charming to put it nicely. Frisk, whose eyes seemed perpetually shut, was sitting to your right and was absolutely content with smiling at you while holding eye contact. You offered to help Chara cut the pie until a knife flew in you direction, narrowly missing your head.

“I’ll take that as a no,” you said as Chara and Frisk were glaring at each other.

“I’m sorry; they like to do that to everyone that tries to help out.”

“Gotta put those knife-throwing skills to use somehow!” They said with a smile that you thought was friendly at first, but it was more like a shit-eating grin after introducing yourself to Chara. First they shake your hand and make an unsettling prediction about how many stabs you could take before dying, and then they throw a knife in your direction.

  _Note to self: Don’t eat food that has Chara’s name on it. Results may lead to multiple stab wounds and/or death._

On the other hand, Frisk had an Oscar-winning poker face that made you initially assume they were an asshole when they refused to shake your hand. You weren’t perturbed for long when Frisk pulled you into the greatest hug you had ever felt in your entire life. Usually hugs with the other person’s arms wrapped around your upper and lower back were just uncomfortable for you, but that hug was like being loved by all the cute animals on the Earth.

You could even say that it was pretty _frisky_ of them.

_Another note to self: Congratulations on earning a one-way ticket to the trash can._

The air in the room was becoming stagnant once Chara set the pie slices on the table. You didn’t lift your head from the pie despite how much you willed yourself to. Was it from fear or simply timidness? You didn’t give a fuck about it; it was annoying you now and you wanted it to stop. Ten minutes had passed when you finally looked up. You could’ve jumped from your seat at what you saw. As if straight from a B-rated horror movie, Frisk and Chara sat in complete silence just to stare at you. Before you assumed that you were the next sacrifice in some strange ritual, the logical realization hit you like that one time you walked into a door. They were waiting for you to try the pie. More questions rushed to occupy your head. Was the pie tainted with hot sauce? Or copious amounts of pepper? Or something so dastardly that you wouldn’t dare mention at all? You cautiously pierced your fork into it to isolate a chunk of the pie from the rest. It appeared to be relatively safe.

_Oh, they’re good. But you were leagues ahead of them with good ol’ revenge plot 65. Otherwise known as pillowcase with tiny holes filled with pudding._

You shoveled the piece into your mouth to stop yourself from smirking. What was supposed to be the catalyst to an all-out prank war ended up being the giant stop sign on an olive branch. You couldn’t stop yourself from melting into your seat and grinning from ear to ear. The two took pictures of your expression, but you couldn’t give a damn about it. This pie was pure bliss. The crust was firm but still delightfully flaky to bite into. The butterscotch was tantalizingly sweet, yet it wasn’t overwhelming with the cinnamon holding it back.

“I want to marry whoever made this pie. I will gladly sleep with the creator of this wonderful dessert.” You almost regretted your words when Frisk froze in place and Chara plunged their fork into the remains of their slice with ferocity. Almost.

“I’ll be holding those words against you among other things.”

Holy shit. You choked on the last bit of pie and began to cough uncontrollably. Chara was down for the count; their head met the table with a groan in annoyance which was your clue as to who said that.

“You better work on that gag reflex before I put that mouth to use.”

“Frisk!” Your voice cracked as if you were going through puberty again. Chara just groaned loader in response. Both reactions must have been satisfactory because Frisk promptly left to wash the dishes, humming to a popular love song that you kept hearing on the radio. You took this chance to move your luggage into your room and lock yourself in there. It was quaint with its ivory walls and steel grey carpet. There was one window near the bed that gave you a nice view of the apartment complex next door. You vaguely remember grumbling about the rent for it before focusing your attention to the room again. You successfully unpacked all of your stuff, which you should get a medal for instead of pushing it off for months, and stepped back to let the ambience sink in.

The place had less of an empty feeling now and more of a peaceful one. It took you a couple hours to do it, but this room definitely improved with all your stuff out. Just to make sure you had everything, you went over the checklist in your head.

Bed covered in sheets? Check.

Clothes hanging in the closet? You even organized it by color.

Underwear, socks, and other things in the dresser? That was the first thing you took care of.

Laptop with charger? Heck yeah!

You sat on the carpet, very pleased with what you did. Organizing and arranging your things proved to be a great distraction, too great of a distraction that left you bored. Maybe you should go fulfill that offer to Frisk?

_Here’s a better idea: watch some anime._ As attractive as Frisk is, you were 100% sure you were going to be dominated in that situation. You wanted some experience beforehand so you would last longer for them.

_Stop right there, dirty thoughts. It’s time to be anime trash._

You snorted at your pathetic excuse of an internal conflict while scrolling down your usual website. Deciding to go with an old detective themed one, you settled down in your chair and made a cocoon out of your comforter. Halfway through the fifth episode, Chara shouted from the other side of your door.

“Casanova and I are going to the grocery store, you want anything?”

“Food.”

“Yeah, what kind of food?”

“The edible kind.” You heard a loud thud after that. Worried that someone was hurt, you rushed to open the door. There was a knife embedded in your door and Chara was on their back, staring at the ceiling.

“I’m surrounded by incompetent fools.”

_Ouch_ , but you did deserve that for being a smartass to them. Better make peace with Chara to make up for that. You retreated to your room to search for a peace offering. Opening the second drawer in your dresser and moving to the bottom right corner, you fished out something that you never planned on using despite being in possession of one. A Victorinox Swiss Army Huntsman Multi-Purpose Tool a.k.a. the Swiss army knife that you found. You walked back to Chara with your hands behind your back to hide the tool.

“Sorry for being an ass,” you said while handing the Swiss army knife to them. Chara was reluctant to hold it, but let out a little chuckle after examining it closely.

“The blades are a bit dull, but it could get the job done. Thanks.” Chara stood up and smiled differently at you before walking out. You walked out to the terrace and spotted them running to where Frisk was standing below. Both of them looked up when you shouted their names and waved goodbye. Once again, the warm and fuzzy feeling enveloped you. If you continue to hang around these two, would you experience this more frequently? It was strange, seeing Chara smile more different than usual and Frisk carrying around your umbrella more than their umbrella, yet you knew that it was a sight you would remember. It made you feel resilient. It strengthened your resolve.

It filled you with determination.

Determination for what, though? You simply couldn’t give a good reason. You always had a certain tenacity combined with stubbornness, but this just felt different. You brushed it off and went back inside. Now that you were alone, you could watch the more gruesome shows. You changed into pajamas before deciding to watch a live-action drama about a series of murders due to supernatural circumstances. Eventually you got bored with it, and you started to watch playthroughs of horror games. Fortunately, you found someone who reacted normally to jumpscares without screaming at an ungodly volume. It was late and you didn’t want to annoy anyone else in the building. Unfortunately, everything was too perfect and you fell asleep in front of your laptop.

It was midnight when you woke up again. Oddly enough, you were tucked in your bed instead of being sprawled out over your desk. The place was completely quiet, except for the sound of rain softly echoing, and you could barely make out a foreign object on your nightstand. You fumbled out of your bed to slowly make your way to the light switch. Along the way, you made the decision to keep a flashlight on your nightstand for future situations. You flicked the switch, nearly irritating your eyes, and glanced over to the nightstand. There was a potted plant with a card near it that had your name on it. The plant was your favorite kind, a light purple Aster.


	3. Too Late Now

From that point on, it was baby steps with the three of you. It wasn’t instantaneous, but it didn’t take very long for you to be friends with them. Before you knew it, the three of you were completely in sync with one another. They even managed to take you skydiving! You vowed to never do that again, but at least you had the experience. The Aster flower was still in your room and you diligently took care of it. Frisk still carried around your umbrella, but at this point it was already theirs. Chara couldn’t be seen without the Swiss army knife and occasionally was caught fiddling around with it. You walked from the café to go back home at 5:36 p.m., feeling a bit more like yourself with Frisk on one side and Chara on the other.

The next day, you practically flew out of the university when the bell rang. You had the feeling that you did horrible on that exam, but you shook it off. Honestly, you would’ve been more surprised if you didn’t have that feeling after you took it. But that wasn’t the whole reason why you were running off of campus. Today was the last day of the semester, and you were lucky enough to have plans. Part of it was dedicated to your family, and the other part was a camping trip on Mount Ebott. Originally the trip just had you as its sole participant, but Chara had immediately bombarded you with reasons to let them join once they found out until you relented. It didn’t help that Chara pointed out that it would be safer too. You were going to as Frisk if they wanted to tag along too, but you found out that they were already packing their things to join you. Apparently Frisk was planning to bring you two to camp on Mount Ebott around the time you bought a new sleeping bag. Despite the complaints you threw occasionally, you were genuinely excited to have them with you. The last few nights made you anxious, and your last reason to persuade yourself that you were going to be okay was that those two were near.

You couldn’t call it a nightmare; it was too vague and it was more relaxing than frightening until you found **that thing**. In the beginning, the reoccurring dream started off in a dark, infinite space. You could fly, walk, or run in the area with no consequences. It was eerily quiet until you had the great idea to sing. Your version of “Fly Me to the Moon” was met with a low, raspy chuckle that made you freeze.

"̶̳͎̘͍̟͟Ḿ̴̢͕̥y̶͚̺̫͢ ̧̡̭̣͔̩͚͕̼͎ạ̷͚p͔̺̪͕͟o̶̪̜̠͇͕l̪̜͓̯̼̩̱̕ͅo҉̡̹̺͇͙̭͕ͅg҉̜͙i̢̝͖̘̳͢͝e̡̳̥̕s҉̛̮.̠̬̯͢͡ ̧̙͈̖͇̥̺̹̬͟I̳ ̴͓̖͙̲̟͓̝p̗̀́͞r̢̟͕͕͜͡ͅo̧̠̳̱͍̫͙͠m̺͙͇͇̯̤͇͢ͅi͏̝̬̺̯̯͍͟s̶̱̳͕̥̱͓̞̗̀e̸̘̻̟̼̝̟̹ ̸̬͔̻͍̲͚͖̫͘ṭ̤̱h̢̥̺͟a̡͔̝̙̼̖̥ṱ̼̰͇͢ ͏͍̫̜̗͕̘̫̳I̡̝͍̩ ͓̹̘͍̹̫w҉̸̢̭̙̘̳̳ì̭͚̭̙͚́l̩͓̲̫͎͟ͅl͍͍͘͝ ̴̜̻n̡̞͉̟͞o̡̮͙͇t̨̟͚̥ ̢̛͇͇͢h̨̭̺͎͖̤̝a̶̲̪̙̤͖̫͠r̴̞̪͖m̬̖ ̷͚͉̬͚̜͡y̱͕̪̯͎̭͍̕o̵̱u̴͖͖̝̕͝.̖̙̹͟"̨͎̬̤̗̦̲̞̦͠ͅ (My apologies, I promise that I will not harm you.) Looking around, you tried to find the source of the voice. Chills went down your spine when you felt something grasp your shoulder.

_No, not yet. I’m not-_

Your eyes flew open after that. You were in a cold sweat and let out a sigh of relief, believing that it was just a dream. All was well until you heard that voice again.

"͜Ò͘͝n͜͡c̢͞e̵ ̶͠y͝͞o̧u͢ ̨́f̵͏e͏el̴̵̡ ҉̷͢t́͜ha̸̧t͠ ̨́i͜t̛́ ì̢s̨̀̕ ͏̴̧t͟͡im̛e̢͡,͡ ͟t̸͜r̸a̸v҉̵e̢l͡ ̵t͜o̵͢ ̵Mǫu̸̸̕ņt̸̢ ̴͡E̶b̢̛òt̸̀t̕҉."̸́ (Once you feel that it is time, travel to Mount Ebott.) Ever since that night, you heard the voice constantly; it wasn’t a broken record about the mountain, but the alternative was similar to talking to a stranger. Short, awkward, and you wanted it to stop immediately. The voice, on the other hand, was persistent to make friends with you. Despite how much of a cold shoulder you gave it, you couldn’t stop yourself from being completely enamored with its adorable awkwardness. Considering it responded to your thoughts, it knew your opinion on it and became even more flustered whenever you called it cute. In the end, the voice had persuaded you to travel to Mount Ebott sooner than you had originally promised. That was the real reason why you wanted to go camping.

After a couple of days that were spent with the family, it was finally the time to embark on the trip. Your backpack was filled with extra clothes, shoes, and a new notebook to jot down anything interesting. In your coat were a mechanical pencil, a pack of gum, and your phone. Chara carried a duffel bag filled with who knows what, and Frisk asserted themself to be in charge of the cooking and food. You all decided that it would be easier to take the bus, and stopped by Danny’s house to say goodbye. She was already informed of your trip because that was rule 5.

**If departing temporarily for a long period of time or permanently, please notify the landlord before the date of departure.**

After a cup of hot chocolate, which was Danny’s specialty that you simply couldn’t leave without a taste, she hugged everyone at once. You were halfway across her porch when you heard her yell after you; nearly making you trip over air.

“Take this! A little gift for not being too chaotic!” You were handed three large containers filled with her hot chocolate. It could probably last half of a month between any other trios. But for your group, you would give it a maximum of five days. The minimum would be five minutes. You had to run to catch the bus, Danny gave you another tearful goodbye at the last minute, but you were able to throw yourself into a seat. Apparently Frisk was distracting the bus driver with a light conversation, which gave you enough time to get on. Everyone else grumbled because you made the bus wait an extra seven minutes. Both you and the voice apologized to the others even though they could only hear you. After the musty bus ride that you paid for, you arrived at the foot of Mount Ebott. It looked quite intimidating with its stature, even more so when Chara proclaimed their desire to go past the deserted campground site. Fortunately, you and Frisk were able to convince them to set up camp at the site before hiking further.

You wanted to say that the journey was long and treacherous, but you were the only one who kept walking into trees and tripping most of the time.

"̧̕P̴͢l͝e̕a҉şe̵͝ ̷͝w̶̕à̕t̵͘ch͟ wh̷́e̵re ͡y̧͝où̸'́҉͢re ͠ǵo̶͞i̕ng̵,̶̶"̀ (Please watch where you’re going,) said the voice in a gentle tone as you stumbled from stubbing your foot into a fallen branch. You were about to apologize when Chara shouted that they found the campsite. Leaves covered the ground and the few wooden tables, and the building containing the bathrooms was nearby. Chara fished out this odd bundle of fabric and pipes from their duffel bag before letting it drop. Frisk had left their things with you to gather firewood and you just sat down at a table.

"A͠r͢҉e̶̛n̛͞'̕t͏ ́̕yó̷͢u̷ ̧g̶͘o͜͢i͟͏n̨͢g̛ t̛o̵̡̨ ̶̧͜h̸́e̷͟͏l͘͡҉p th̨e̶͠m̵̸ ͏̨ơųt̛͟?̶͏"͢ (Aren’t you going to help them out?)

Nah. The last time you tried ended with a knife thrown at you.

"͜͟O͟͞h̢ ̶͡m̷͘y͞,̕͏"͝ (Oh my,) exclaimed the voice. ҉"̶́Wè̴ll,͠ ̴͟cá͜ǹ̴ ̵̕y̡͘o̵͏͜ų͞ ̶͟͝he͝l҉̴p͏ ̨m̛e ̷̀͡òu̷t ̢͞th͘e̵̶n̷?"͜͡ (Well, can you help me out then?)

_Sure! As long as it doesn’t involve navigating through huge castles, a gamut of battles against several beasts, and engaging in jolly cooperation with a guy who worships the sun._

"͏N͜͠o̢͏̨,̡̕ ̷͡͞n̷͢͝o̶̵th̕͢i̕͝͝n̡͞g̛ ̸͞͏thát҉ ̶co̸͘m̸p̴ĺ͡ę͞x̧,̡̡͡"̧҉(No, nothing that complex,) it chuckled. "͡I̢ ̕͏́j̡u͏͘͞s̴ţ̴͠ ́͘w̢͢a̡͢nt͠ ͝y̛̛͞o҉u ̶̨̨tǫ̶̛ ̕d̨͘eś̀͠c̵̢r̵̷i̡b̶e̕ ̴͡y̨ò͝u͠r̷ ̀͠s̷҉҉u̶͘r̕͟r̸̵o̶͞uǹ̵̶d̴̵ing͏s̷.̴̷͡"̵́ (I just want you to describe your surroundings.) You proceeded to describe everything you saw. From the grey, cloudless sky to the cold dirt covered in orange, red, and yellow leaves. You even told it about the clothes everyone was wearing, the now finished tent, and your sleeping bag. Time had passed and day was now night. There was an owl hooting in the distance and the trees whispered incessantly. Your mind felt empty as you unzipped your sleeping bag and climbed out of it. Frisk called out your name when they had awoken. You didn’t respond and continued to walk up the mountain.

"̨͠W̛h̷ą̵t̕͟ ͡àr̕e̢͜ ̴̡y̧ou̧ ̸҉d͟oi͞n̴g̴̀? S̀tǫ͡p̡͜͡ th̕i͜͏s!̕ T̛hi̛s̕ ͟͠i̴̛̛s͜ ̨͜n͘͠ơ̡͜t ͏̛́w͢h͞a̴̢t̛ ̷w̧e͜͢ ̢͞͠a̸̶͟g͟͟r̷̡éed͏ ̡ón͟!͝."̀͜҉ (What are you doing? Stop this! This is not what we agreed on!)

"͔̺̜͉̬͚I̢͖̰̰̹͍̞̳͞ͅ ͏̫̥̮̻͕̠́t̫̝i̶̧͉̰͉̭̰͟r͚̤ͅe̶̡̖͈͖͠ ̫̭͓̹̺̙́͝o̡͈̬̣̤̳̭̪̳̤f̡̡͚͕͕ͅ ̢̗̦̯͙́͜t̷̤̝h҉͙́i̯̗̪͖̣̪̻̣͖͘ş̟̗̞̤͕̥ ̷̖g̢̜͍̬̜̝͡a̧҉͏̣̜̭̖̝m̵̧͇͎͜ḙ̢̛ͅ.͓͢"͏͓̻̮̣̺̻ (I tire of this game.) There were two voices in your head now. They seemed to be arguing about you as you walked up the mountain in a steady pace. Behind you, you could hear Frisk and Chara shouting your name. Their footsteps were like a stampede of wild animals. You broke out into a sprint when Chara caught the sight of you. You tried to stop running; you wanted to go back to the tent and pretend this never happened, but you still kept running. You stopped at the edge of a giant hole and turned around. Chara was the first to show in your line of sight, followed closely by Frisk. You saw that Chara was holding a kitchen knife and Frisk had your backpack, but it was looking larger than usual. Suddenly, you felt something crawling on your back before yanking you down into the hole. The other two dove after you and were able to reach you thankfully. In that moment, you were glad that they took you skydiving. The three of you gripped each other desperately while falling down the seemingly endless pit. The voices were still arguing until you heard one say something very loudly.

**"͘̕҉Ǹ̶̴o̶̧҉!͢ ͏I̷̕ r̕͘͜e͜fu͢s̶e̶͢ ̸̧t̵o ͝h̵a҉̡͞v̡̛̀e ̨t̴h͘҉e̕i̡r ́l͟͝i̴͟v́͞͠e̸̢s̸͘ ̶̶͘e̶͟n̵̡͡ḑ̀̀ ͏l͘i͡k͝҉͞ȩ ͟t̸͞͠h̶i͏͜s!͜"̀͜ (No! I refuse to have their lives end like this!)** You could’ve sworn that you felt lighter after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! School had me running circles, balancing plates, and yadda yadda yadda.  
> Chapter 4 takes place in the RUINS and may be coming earlier than the usual one week time due to me working on it before realizing I had free time to upload Chapter 3. 
> 
> Tell me if you can't read the corrupted text so I can post what they're actually saying in the comments.


	4. A Terrible Mistake

The first thing you felt was pain. Your speed did decrease significantly, but the landing was still far from pleasant. Underneath you was a bed of golden flowers that you had never seen before. They were too large to be primulas, but too small to be sunflowers. You gathered enough strength to sit up; you couldn’t stand because Chara and Frisk were still holding on to you. Frisk noticed your struggle and stood up slowly like a newborn deer. They looked at you before directing their attention above. Chara still held on and you could hear their crying reverberate off the walls.  You were about to apologize when their fist collided with your face. Chara crouched in front of you and wiped the rest of their tears away before shouting at you in an ungodly volume.

“What the hell is wrong with you!? Did you decide that you wanted to die today? I would’ve been more than happy to drag you to hell and back after this stupid stunt! Now we’re down in the middle of nowhere with no way to go back up and…And…I’m so glad you’re alive, you stupid asshole.” It was a touching moment, hearing those words from the person who didn’t give two fucks about the rest of humanity. You decided to lighten the mood.

“Oh my god, you like me! You really like me!” You earned another punch from Chara, except this one was aimed at your shoulder with a much lesser force behind it. Laughter erupted from the peanut gallery a.k.a. Frisk who was carrying your backpack surprisingly.

_Alright, enough fooling around. Time to find another way out._

"͠A̸͢g̸͝r̡͟é̶e͜͏d̀.̵̢̕"́ (Agreed.)

"I w̨͢o̸n̕͠d͟͡͞e͞͏̶r̵͘͠ ̧͜͞if̵͡ ̸̛y͝o҉̷̴u̶͞ ͘͢ć̸an̶ ̛͜c̡ơ̵m̢p̡let̛͢e̕͞ ̀th̛̕͘i̡͘͡s ̢͝t̴͠e͏s̵͝t̵͝,̛ ͏́c̶̶le̴̡͝ve̛r̵ ̴̀͏m͝ờu̧͠s͢e͝.͢͠"̸͢͜ (I wonder if you can complete this test, clever mouse.)

_Who. The fuck. Was that. Wait, no. I had heard you before, but I still got to ask. Why are there two of you now?_

"I҉'̷m̨ ̴͝s̛ơ̸rr̡̀̕y̧ ̕f́͏o̶̕͟r̴̛ ̵́t̕ḩ̴̕i̡̨̧s̢͘ ̨͠͝u͟n̴for̵̨t͞u͟n̵̛àt̷̨͢e̷̕͠ ̵̀si̛t͜ua̡͟t̡͘͟ió̕n҉̢.҉҉ ̵̀M͘҉y ̡͝͡ _a҉çqua̵í́͏ņt̕͞á̵͡n͞ce͏̸_ ̵d̴͟ęçi̵̡͟de̢̢͢d̛͜ ͢͡t̀o̶͢ ͏t͏ak͢ę̨͢ ̨͟͜m͘͟atte̸͘͢r̸҉s҉҉ ̡͜҉int̴̢o ̵͜h͟͡͠i̵̢s̢̛ ̕̕͘o͜w̵͢n̕ ̧h͘aņd̕͞s̢͘͟.̡͡͡" (I’m sorry for this unfortunate situation. My _acquaintance_ decided to take matters into his own hands.)

"̛A̢͘҉d̵̡͢m̵i̧͜t҉ ̷it͘,́́͠ ̨t̶͜h̕͠e̢͟ ҉̶d̴͢a̴̢t̕ą͜ ẁ̷o̡͟u̶̷l̴d́ ͜be͝ ̶̸m̕ư҉̷c͏̴h̢͡ ͘m̢o͏͢͠re̴̛̕ ͟abu̧͠ņda̸n̸̶t̶̨͘ ̴t͝h̀͟͡i͞͡s̵ ̧wa̛͟y̢̢.̶"̵̛ (Admit it, the data would be much more abundant this way.)

_Okay, the both of you somehow managed to dodge the question._ You predicted many strong headaches in the future.

With Chara in the front with the kitchen knife and Frisk in the back, you walked into the next corridor with bated breath. You couldn’t see much, so you held their hands and formed a daisy chain. The atmosphere grew darker and colder until you spotted more golden flowers under a beam of light up ahead. The three of you scrambled to stand side-by-side, but neither dared to step forth. Chara nudged you forward which made you realize something.

“Why am I in the middle? You’re the one who’s armed and dangerous,” you whispered angrily to Chara.

“You’re the meat shield now. Before you start to complain, who was the one that let themselves fall down the easily avoidable hole in the mountain?”

_Touché, my dear Chara._ You heard a chuckle inside your head.

"͏I ́͝f͡i̴̧ń͟͝d͡ i̴̴t̀͜͟ ̧͞ì́͟nt̢e̷r̀͢͏e̷̷s̀t̸į̀n҉̴g̷͘ ̷͢t̶͞h͢͞at͘͏͏ ̨͡ơu͜͢͡r͟͡ ̛̕m̸a̧gí͟c ͞a̷̢f͘fec̶̸̵t͡͠s͝͠ ͡y͡͠ou̶͘,͜͠ ̛c͏̢o̴̷n͞s̴̶i҉d͞͝͡er̷͢i̵҉n̷g̷ ̸̧͡ýǫ̷̶u͡r͟ ҉͡͞o͠r̀i̧̛g̵i͟͞ns͞.̧̨̛" ( I find it interesting that our magic affects you, considering you origins.)

"̨̧͝E̛͘n͠o̶͢ug̴h̷̨!͝ ͝͏͟I͟͏̛ ͟ẃo̢̨͞n̷'̛̀t̢͟ ̧͟l̨̨͜et̶ ͠an̴͝y̶̛͟m̵̕o̢r͞e̶ ̢͡o̕͏f́ ͏͘͘t̷h̴̢͘i̛͘͝s̕͝ ͘҉̵sta̸҉n͏̀d̷̵̀!͢͝ ̴You͏ ͏͠͞s̶to͞p̨ ͏i̕n̴͏te҉r͞f҉e̛͟r̨i͠ǹ͢͞g̕ ̸t͘h̷is̴͘͘ į͝n̵̶҉ś̶̵ţan҉t o͠r҉̨ ͘e͠l͘s̀͘e̢͜͠-̢̀"͠ (Enough! I won’t let anymore of this stand! You stop interfering

"̵͡W̷̕͠h̀at̶ ̸̨͠a̶r͏̶͟e͡ ͜yơ̡u̧͡͝ ́go̧i̶n͢g͏̢ ͠t̢͠ó̕ ͟d̴͢o̡̢͟?͜͡ ̴̨Y͏̵҉o̷u ̡a҉nd͢͠ ̵̀͠I͠͏ ̧͟h͜a̴̡v͜͡e ̵àl͟͠r͠e͞a̵̢dy ͘͢w̴̴a̴͞͠s̴t̶͡e̷d̛̕ w̶̕h̢a͠t ̴l̡i͏͝t҉t̶͟l̸e͟͡ p̴̧̛ow̸e҉̕҉r͠͞ ̸wę̴͘ ͢͝h̀͡ą̴d̸ ̷̧͘i̸͟n̢ ̡t̸͡͡ḩ̷͠i̛s҉̸ ͜͝t̀͟i̷̡͝m̀͜͞e̢ĺ̛in̨͟e.̨"͡ (What are you going to do? You and I have already wasted what little power we had in this timeline.)

There was a heavy silence afterwards. Chills ran a relay race on your spine at the words that Frisk said suddenly.

“Something’s coming.” Each footstep that you could hear made your heart beat a little bit faster. One of the voices told you to be on guard while Chara moved closer to you in an attempt to conceal their presence. Finally, a shadowy figure appeared in the doorway ahead.

“Oh? What is this?” A large goat creature came into the light. Her white fur was slightly matted and her overall appearance made you think of someone at their wit’s end. A small, red heart with bits of grey around the corners suddenly appeared in front of you.

“Poor, innocent creatures. You must be so helpless right now. Do not fear, for I am Toriel. I am the caretaker of the Ruins, and we have some strange customs down here in the land of monsters. Allow me to teach you.” Her black, tattered robes with white sleeves had a mysterious symbol etched onto the chest. Her horns were pointed, but her claws looked more menacing. She moved closer to you in a stride that seemed almost regal.

“Everyone grows through a system of LOVE or LV as some would prefer. Your LV can grow with EXP and your ability to care for others would grow as well. In order to gain EXP, you must interact with the others in a fierce duet. The duets are basically mimicking the other’s actions until one has gathered more EXP than the other.” She made a sweeping motion with her right paw and several orbs of fire appeared. You took a step back in response to its appearance.

“Do not be afraid, my dear. These would help you last longer in your future duets. My magic is warm enough for you to survive.” You moved forward cautiously toward one orb and noticed that the heart was moving as well. You stopped short before it touched the flame. It looked somewhat harmless, if you could call fire that, and it was pleasantly warm. You watched as the fire drifted closer to the heart, and then…

You were burning. Boy, did you mess up big time. If there was a competition on fucking things up, you would be legendary. You could feel the flame singe your skin and burn your flesh, the pain becoming increasingly unbearable and the heat was everywhere. Your mouth was painfully dry in an instant as you tried to scream. Your legs became shriveled and burnt black followed by the rest of your body. The last thing you heard was Chara yelling and leaping towards a cackling Toriel.

The flames that were suffocating you disappeared without a trace. You glanced quickly at your body, and it was still intact. As if to compensate for no burn wounds, you barely had any strength to get up again. Chara swung and slashed wildly at Toriel, who was dodging and howling with laughter at your pathetic state. The heart in front of you was barely beating; its glow was not as shimmering as before and seemed more spectral now. Frisk ran over to hoist your body, using theirs as a crutch. Suddenly Chara crashed into you both; a red heart was slowly beating in front of them. Toriel had ceased laughing when she moved closer with a wolfish grin on her face.

“Did you honestly believe that I would help you? Allow me to educate you three one last time. There are no such things as duets, only battles. In this hellish world, it’s kill or be killed! Now be a good child and die.” The three of you were surrounded by a swirling vortex of fire, each flame was twice as large compared to the first set and circling like a pack of vultures. Frisk darted their head frantically for an opening after switching to a stance that allowed them to carry you two. You weakly called out to Chara, but they were out cold. You just watched helplessly as the fire drew closer to your heart until you saw a ring of white pellets surround Toriel. They darted at her, cutting and stabbing into her body. One in particular made a diagonal cut across the left side of her cheek. She crouched while clutching her chest with one paw, and her blood dripped onto the stone floor. The vortex of fire had vanished as Toriel’s body started to stitch itself together. Frisk took this moment to run out of the room, side-stepping away from her and keeping a grip on you and Chara. They stopped into a room with a stone door halting your escape. There were 6 stones in two rows and a switch to the left of the door.

"҉T͘el̴̛ļ͜ ͟͡F҉̕r҉i̵̢͜s̢͝k͞ ̸t́͏̧o̴̕ ͡s̵̵t̷̴͜e͜͜p͝͏ ̷̛҉o̶͜n̴ ͜t͡h͟ę͢ ͝f̴͢i̶͠r̸͡s͜t̀,̢ ͢͡th͢i͞r̶ḑ͘͜,̢҉̴ ̷̀f̧͝o͏̢u̶r̸t̀̕͡h͠҉,͜͡ ̴̢a̵̛n҉̕͜d̀ s̛͡͝ix̷͘t̀͡h̷̨͟ ̨s̛͠t̶̨o̸͟͠n̛͞e̴s̶̢̢.̸͝ ̸̕͠F̵͞l̸͘͘i̸͞p͝ ́t̴̡hȩ ş͝w҉̵it̸͘c̷͏h͘͡ ̡ó̡ņ̡͟c̕̕͝e͜ ̴t̀ḩ̕e̴y̧'͏͝r̸͡e̷ ̡͞d҉o͏͘n͠e҉̛͢.̶̨͠"̡҉ (Tell Frisk to step on the first, third, fourth, and sixth stones. Flip the switch once they’re done.) You repeated what the voice said to Frisk. The stone door fell to reveal another passageway.

“How did you know to do that?”

“There are two voices in my head, and one of them is super nice while the other one is Jerkface Mcgee.” Frisk laughed a little bit as they ran through the somewhat empty halls. You took a mental note to congratulate Frisk on completing that one spiked floor puzzle where the spikes released quickly whenever you take a wrong step. They had faster reflexes to dodge them and the stamina to carry two people while running away from an evil goat lady that can conjure fire. Eventually Frisk ran out of breath and hid in a room with a bowl of candy on a pedestal. The golden flowers in the room were overgrown and plentiful.

Perfect for temporarily hiding three bodies, if you didn’t move and if Toriel was the type to completely miss something in plain sight.

You heard her approach the room, your pulse quickened despite feeling drained, but she never entered and just walked away. Frisk rolled over to lie on their back, nearly smacking you in your face with the back of their hand, and gasped for air. You thought that you needed medical treatment soon, because you could’ve sworn that yellow flower wasn’t in front of you before. The fact that flowers don’t have faces, except for this one in front of you, set off some alarms in your head.

“Are you alright?” _Holy shit, it talks._ Frisk immediately stood up and turned to face the flower.

“Please lie back down! She might find you guys again!” The flower nervously looked towards the entrance of the room while Frisk went back down again with a confused look on their face. Chara, who was unconscious during the chase, slowly opened their eyes and motioned to you to check if you saw the talking flower too. You nodded to get your point across to them.

“Howdy, my name’s Flowey. Flowey the flower. You need to go back where you came from; humans are not safe here! You can use the candy in there to heal you guys back to full health, but make it quick. Toriel’s probably out patrolling the Ruins at this time.” Frisk nodded and crawled over to the bowl of candy before spilling it all into your backpack. They crouched down to Chara with a piece in their hand. You saw Chara bite their fingers, only to receive a slap on the head after eating the candy. When it was your turn to be fed, it dissolved surprisingly fast and reminded you of pop rocks. You felt better afterwards and sat cross-legged in front of Flowey while Frisk rummaged through you backpack and Chara stretched their limbs.

“I’ll tell you guys when she’s busy baking, but you need to leave immediately. How did you guys get here in the first place?”

“I fell through the giant hole that was a couple rooms back. Not the greatest of my accomplishments.” Flowey’s expression turned grim upon hearing your statement. He mumbled for a little bit, then took a deep breath.

“Okay, the only way out of the Ruins is through the door in Toriel’s basement. If you don’t want your soul taken, then I suggest we leave for Home now. All of you are human, so you need to dodge with the heart until I can get in range. I’ll use my magic to stall the other monsters, just focus on evading and escaping.” He continued to ramble on about something, but you were too bothered by his previous words.

_Sure, that sounds like a great idea. Wait for the tiny flower to save you from bloodthirsty monsters twice its size._

"̡̀͜D͝o͡n͘'̶̵͏t͏͘ ̡́͘b̷́͡e͢͜ r͟u̶d̷̀e̵͠.͘͠ ̡͜He̛͟ j̷͡u҉s̡͞t̷͜͜ ̀w̶̢̕a̸n͞t́s̴̢ ͟͢͝t͝͡o̧͏̢ ͜͡h͘͞el̴͡p̧͡.͝͝͝"͏͞ (Don’t be rude. He just wants to help.)

"̷Wh̸̨a̛t̶̛́ ҉̧a͘n̴͝ ͢͡ư͡n҉s̕͠҉i̡̡g̨̧h͢͢t͝l̴͢ỳ̡ ͞c̛͘r̴̷ea͜҉t̡̕u͘r̴̨͟ȩ̵.̶"̛͘ (What an unsightly creature.) Frisk glanced at you before you gave them the thumbs up sign. They rummaged through your backpack to pull out one of your spare shoes. They proceeded to scoop up Flowey, along with some dirt, and place it all in your shoe.

"̷͏H̸̛o҉҉w̶̴̵ ̵̢͟a̵̢pp̧̀r͜҉͜o͘͝p҉̀҉r̸͟͝i̷̢a̸t́e̡͡.҉ ̛No͡w̕͘͜ t̢̧h̢͞e҉͟͠r̢ȩ'̸̴s ̀a ͢͝p̸͠a̸̴͘t͘̕͜h͢e̷ti̡̡̨c ͢f̢̨̢lów̴̛ȩ̵r͡ ̧͟͞w̧͟i̸th͘͡͞ ̡͜t͢͟͟h̷̷é ͜b́a͜͡n͡͡d o͜f̶̸̵ ҉m̷i̴̛ş̴f̸̶͡ì̡t́s.̶͢"̸͢ (How appropriate. Now there’s a pathetic flower with the band of misfits.)

_You better watch out, because we’re coming after you!_

"̴͜Wi̶̶t̸͢͠h́ ̛w͝hat̵͟?̀͝ ́͝T͠h̨҉e͏ ̶́f̨lo̸͟w̷͏ę͞r̕͠ ̢͝ò͟r͠͏ ͝t̶́͢h̡͘e ҉͜k̶̨ņ̸ife,̡" (With what? The flower or the knife,) said the mean one with a hint of amusement.

_If you keep that attitude up, you’re going to get both. Just don’t stab anyone or Flowey with the knife!_

Chara peeked out the doorway before signaling that the coast was clear. You were forced to lead the pack with Flowey in your hands. Chara followed closely behind, mumbling about getting revenge on Toriel, and Frisk patted them on the back as a half-assed attempt to calm them down. Frisk refused to let you carry your backpack, pointing it out that it would just weigh you down. You were walking faster than normal until something leapt at you. You felt your soul materialize and you braced yourself for the battle.

*Froggit hopped close!

FIGHT    >ACT     ITEM      MERCY

>Compliment

“Nice eyepatch,” you told Froggit. You could hear Chara question your action and Frisk shushing them. Flowey and Froggit looked confused at what you did.

“What? Don’t judge me; I almost died without doing my daily act of kindness today! If I ever die down here, I want my last action to be doing something nice.” Froggit hopped closer to you before showing you its back. It let out a croak that Frisk described as gratitude. You held Flowey closer and asked if that was true.

“Does it look like I speak frog?”

“You’re not going to with that attitude.” Froggit hopped toward the next room before looking back at you. After realizing what it's trying to do, you followed it through a secret passage that led the group to the place called Home. Flowey was panicking in a whispered tone at the possibility of the situation being a trap, but Chara’s face portrayed a clever strategist that was finally two steps ahead of their rival. Froggit had hopped away with no final ribbits.

“Hey, are you ready for round two? Remember that fire hurts people,” said Chara.

“I’m going to trip you and hope that you fall into one of her fireballs.” You glanced at everyone to check if they were truly prepared, and proceeded to lead the group inside Home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason why they didn't encounter Napstablook...Hehehehehe


	5. The Exiled Mother

Home was cozier than what you originally thought. There were no blood splattered walls, piles of organs, or the smell of decay in the air. Instead of all that nightmarish nonsense, there were cream-colored walls in the tidy house with the smell of pastries in the air. You had to exert some self-control to not drool.  The set of stairs in front of you was oddly blocked off by a miniature gate with a keyhole.

_I’m going to take a wild guess and say that’s where we need to go._

Although your common sense and Flowey advised you not to do this, you all split into pairs to find the key. Frisk and Chara darted into the left hallway while you carried a nervous Flowey into the one on the right. The corridor was a bold yellow with three doors and two vases that were displaying water sausages. You started to mentally kick yourself in the head for not remembering the actual name of the plant, which also reminded you about Flowey.

_Is it rude to ask him about what kind of flower he is?_ You decided not to ask. Walking to the very last door down the hall, you were disappointed and somewhat relieved to see the sign that read, “Room under Renovations.” You moved down to the next door on its left, which wasn’t locked to your relief. You opened the door slowly while whispering to yourself that you weren’t in a horror movie. The room was a light blue with a large bed in the top left corner, a wardrobe and dresser, a large desk with a chair, and a cactus off to the right side. You placed Flowey on the desk before starting your search with the wardrobe and dresser. You were surprised how organized everything was, so you tried to be careful rummaging around.

“Find anything yet,” asked Flowey. You decided to search the desk after looking in this last drawer. When your eyes laid upon the wicked and improper things inside, you let out a gasp.

“What’s in there?”

“Toriel’s socks!” Flowey made a face that needed no words to explain how he felt towards you in this exact moment.

_The flower is one-hundred percent done with my shit._

"T̨͏hat̶̶ ҉w͠͠ò͜u̴̸ļ͜d̴͢͠ m̵a҉̶ke҉̡ t̴w͜͏̨o͠ o̕͘f͏̸͏ ̛̀u̸̶͘s̸҉."̡҉ (That would make two of us.)

"͝S̨t͘ơ͜p͏̶ ҉͟͠t̸͜h̨̡a̡t͜͟҉.̷̴ T͘h̶̡e͡y̡͘͝ ̕͡҉a̧҉̵r̵̀e̴̴ ̀t҉͡͝ry̷̨in͡g͞ ͠t̴ò̵̸ ҉͘m̴͢͟a̷k͟e͏͟ ̛͟l̸͡ì̡g̡͘h̡ţ͜ ̴̡o͜͟f t͠h̢҉e̕ ҉s̀͢͡i͠t̨ù̡͠à̧͟t͢͢í̕on̡ ͠t͜h̕a̡͟͝t͏͟ ͜͠ **y͝͏ou̵͠** ̴͝p̶̀͜l̢͟ać̸͘ed̶ ̴͝t̸̡͢h̸̢e̶͜m̵̡ ͏i̶҉ń!͝"̵͠   (Stop that. They’re trying to make light of the situation that **you** placed them in!) Eventually you found the key in a desk drawer, and exited the room quickly to fight off the urge to read her diary that was lying unguarded. You carefully made your way back to the stairs with Flowey in your hands. He was a bit panicked by the fact that Toriel was nowhere to be seen, but you did your best to assure him that you would escape immediately if you ever saw something that looked like her. The other two were waiting by the gate, arguing about whether or not they should just jump over the banister.

“I’m just saying that a sprained ankle is probably the worst you could get from this.”

“Just because I have a first aid kit in the backpack, doesn’t automatically mean that I’m a certified professional.” With a small shout and a flash of the key, you unlocked the gate and took the lead once more. The stairs led to a purple hallway that was lit by small, floating fire.

"̸̛͘S̷͜h͏̶e̴͘ ̢m̡̀͝u̷st̶̶͘ ͝b̡͝e̴ d̵͘òw̨n̶̨ ̷̧h̢̕e̵͢͢ŗ̷́e̸͢.̛ G̕̕ơ͢͝o͝d̕͞ ̨lu̷ḉk͡͏.͠"̢͠ (She must be down here. Good luck.) You felt yourself smile at the voice’s encouragement. Despite your stalwart façade on the outside, you were shaking with every step forward. Your mind raced with all the possibilities of the battle. Should you let Chara kill her for trying to kill you or just let them get a couple hits? What would Frisk do? How does one fight back while holding a flower? What do you in order to dodge the fire vortex from last time? Would crying make her stop? The hand that suddenly grabbed yours yanked you out of your reverie and almost made you scream. You were about to yell at Frisk for almost making you wet yourself, but stopped when it was actually Chara who was holding onto you.

“You know, I was joking about the whole ‘meat shield’ thing. You can sit back with Frisk and I’ll take on the she-beast.” You would’ve considered the offer if you didn’t conveniently remind yourself how you got down here in the first place.

You squeezed their hand to reassure them that you’re fine, albeit you were still shaking like a Chihuahua. Their grip was very strong as if they were afraid you were going to disappear right before their eyes. It helped calm you down and gather your focus for the upcoming battle. After turning the corner, you finally found her again. There she was, standing in front of a purple door with the same symbol that was on her robes. She looked morose and lost in thought until she noticed you. Toriel’s face showed a smidge of surprise, as if she didn’t anticipate your arrival, before twisting it into a malicious grin. Without a word, she made a sweeping motion reminiscent to the first time. The fire flew at you with incredible speed, but you barely slipped in between two of them. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw frisk and Chara side-stepping the flames as well. The group advanced closer until the barrage of fire ceased.

>>FIGHT       ACT       ITEM       >MERCY

>Spare

“Now!” You felt Flowey concentrate and saw his bullets aim at Toriel. Chara leapt forth, ready to plunge the knife into her. You should’ve hit her with all you had. With the combined power of Flowey’s bullets and Chara’s slashes, Toriel should’ve died immediately. But you held back because something felt wrong. You took a step back, stumbling on the stones behind you and breaking Flowey’s concentration, causing most of the bullets to miss. Chara hesitated at the last minute, giving Toriel more of a severe paper cut than a slash. Frisk was just standing in place with their arms crossed, a decision that captured the attention of everyone.

“Frisk?”

“Are they mad?”

“What are you doing? Stop it,” demanded Toriel. She threw a fireball in Frisk’s direction, and Frisk made no attempt to evade the oncoming fire.

_No. No, no, no! Now’s not the time to just stand there and wonder how’s the weather, Frisk!_

You tackled them out of the way, but the flame still grazed your soul. You could feel an irritating pain on your chest. You were about to chastise Frisk until you realized why they refused to fight. There was more to Toriel than she reveals, and it bothered Frisk. While helping them to their feet, you sputtered out an apology and felt everyone else’s eyes on you. Even Flowey, whom you placed in the corner, was staring at you. Before you could include Chara in the new plan, Toriel sent a different pattern of flames, one where they cascaded in an alternating fashion. Flowey notified all of you whenever one drew close to your souls, which would’ve been nice if he didn’t scream. The silence that followed was unbearable. Frisk and Toriel were locked in a staring contest as if one was trying project their thoughts onto the other. You motioned to Chara and picked up Flowey to inform them of the new plan in the meantime.

“Are you guys sure about-“You simply nodded your head in response to Flowey. Chara reluctantly agreed to it and you walked over to stand by Frisk. You took a deep breath.

FIGHT       ACT       ITEM       >>>MERCY

>>>Spare

Toriel’s face flashed some sadness before striking out in anger. You braced for impact, but the fire veered off to the sides instead. You repeated the action several times until she eventually stopped trying to kill you.

“Why? Why are you doing this? If I don’t kill you, don’t you know that he, Asgore, will kill you?” You just stared at her. She paused to look at the ground, and then spoke once more to you.

“Behind this door is a world of unforgiving, unethical monsters that wouldn’t hesitate to kill and torture you. By fighting me, I would’ve saved you years of endless torment.” You continued to spare Toriel and watched as her façade crumbled away.

“The monsters that you would encounter upon leaving would kill you on sight. Others would just torture you for their own amusement by slowly killing your friends in front of you. I tried to convince one of them to watch over you, but they laughed and refused.” You sat down in front of Toriel to show that she had your undivided attention before choosing to spare her again. The other two sat down as well. The display must’ve hit to close to home for Toriel; it looked as if she could burst out crying any moment now.

“I would’ve given you a swift end by letting you burn in an instant. On the other hand, you could have more of a chance to survive with your higher LV if you killed me. Don’t you understand? It’s kill or be killed.”

FIGHT      >ACT       ITEM       >>MERCY

>Smile  >>Spare

You gave Toriel a patient smile. She responded with a smile of her own, except it was more wistful than yours.

“We could live together if you would like. I do not have much, but I promise to shelter you and help you live comfortably here.” You apologetically refused her offer. Despite how nice it sounded, you just wanted to go home. Toriel averted her eyes from you.

“Ha-ha, what am I even saying? My own husband never allowed me to raise my own son, what possessed me to think that I could raise three humans and a flower?” You didn’t hesitate with your next move. With Flowey on one side, you ran and tried to give Toriel the best hug you could give with one arm. Toriel was shocked at the sudden contact, but held you back without trying to snap your spine in half. You were on the verge of crying as you continued to apologize to her. Once the weight of her situation was released, you let go of Toriel at the same time she let go of you. You took a moment to compose yourself and coughed a few times before speaking.

“Do you have a phone number?”

“Yes,” she said. “What do you need it for?”

_Hello, lump in my throat! Nice to feel you again._

“Well, uh. If it helps, you could pretend that I’m your kid and call me to check up on how I’m doing like any parent would do. Would that make you happy?” Her face showed a gentle smile that was extremely different from the one before. She hugged you and spun you off the ground.

“Yes it would, my dear child.” After happily exchanging numbers with Toriel, you gave one last hug before turning to face the door. Chara and Frisk stepped in front of you this time, and you noticed the unusually wide smiles on their faces.

“Not a word from either of you, okay?” You glanced at Flowey, who was also beaming an exuberant smile at you too.

“That includes you, buttercup.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry for the sad moment, I'll try to lighten things up with everyone's favorite bone brothers in the next chapter!


	6. I've Got a Bone to Pick with You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this one is so late! Here's a heads up that it might take a while for the other chapters because school decided to bury me in tests, projects, and essays! (Fuck my life)
> 
> Thanks for all of your support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

You weren’t predicting to slip in snow or for your phone to ring so soon, but both happened in the exact moment you had walked out the door. The situation would’ve been miniscule if you weren’t carrying a flower that had a mind of its own.

“Shit. Flowey, are you okay?”

“Fine. Cold, but fine.” You handed Flowey to Frisk, who proceeded to pet the flower, before answering the call from Toriel.

“I heard a noise; are you alright? It is quite cold over there, is your clothing sufficient enough to keep you warm?”

“Tori,” you stated calmly.

“That’s strange. I must’ve dialed the wrong number since my child wouldn’t refer to me like that, but I do not hear the wrong number song.”

“Mom,” you corrected while trying not to sound a little bit annoyed. “I’m okay, I just fell down.”

“Oh my god! Did you sprain your ankle? Or break your leg? Do you even have both legs? Can you still walk? Should I carry you?”

_Remember that you willingly signed up for this._ You assuaged her fears to a more reasonable level and let her hang up despite your embarrassment making your thumb inch closer to the button. Frisk was very adamant to carry Flowey this time, so you let them lead with Chara covering the rear. You felt like you were being escorted through the snowy forest. You were beginning to wonder if the forest had an end when you tripped over a branch lying in the middle of the path. Being the mature adult that you were, you stuck your tongue out at it before dragging it out of the way. Curiosity made you take a peek through the trees, and you were taken by surprise at the camera staring back at you. You stuck your tongue at it as well, still feeling that tiny ball of anger inside. It was a miniscule victory that was supposed to make you feel better, but you heard a small chuckle that oddly tickled your ear. You turned in that direction, but no one was there.

"̸̸͜I̷n̕͢co͘͡m̕i̧҉̵ǹg̷͞ ̡͞b̨̢o̸n̕҉e͞ ́f̵͢r͏o̧m̶̛͝ ̀t́҉̛h̵̀͘e ̨̡́f͠ŕ̨ơ͢n͞t͏͜,̵̴́"͟ (Incoming bone from the front,) warned the voice inside your head. You let out a curse and ducked to the side. A bone flew out from the space at an alarming rate, and you questioned why you didn’t see that earlier in the distance. It zipped into the other side of the path, disappearing into the endless rows of trees. You wanted to interrogate the voice because of its prediction, but Chara interrupted your train of thought.

“What the fuck is that thing?!” A colossal skull that reminded you of a wolf had emerged from behind with a figure in the distance. A ball of light formed in front of its mouth while it stared down the four of you with its eerie red eyes.

“Scatter!” Chara shouted while dashing to the side into the trees. Frisk dove into the other side with Flowey, but you ended up hesitating about where to go for too long. Your soul was yanked forward and you braced yourself for your inevitable death.

_At least I bought the others some time. You two better live!_

You heard laughter, the same kind from before, as it faded away in a strange manner. You reluctantly opened your eyes when the only sound left was the wind blowing through the trees.

There was nothing there. No mysterious figure in the distance with giant wolf skull laser to be seen.

_That was anticlimactic._

"̵̴M̸̛ak͢͝ȩ̛̛ ͠a ̵̷́b͡r̕͜͠e̶̡a̛͡k f͢o҉͘r͜͡ ̷̷t͠h͢e ̵͡g̨̀͝a̴̕t̶e҉ ̸͟͞u̵̡͜p̵̨̡ ͞a̡h̡e̵̢a͞d͟.̨̧"͏̧́ (Make a break for the gate up ahead.) You didn’t question why the mean one was helping you out all of a sudden; you simply obeyed its orders. Whoever tried to kill you before must’ve decided to tag along, because you heard the sound of crunching snow not too far behind. Fear and adrenaline made you pick up your pace. After what felt like hours of running, you stopped in front of a wooden bridge with a gate in the middle. You weren’t exactly sure if you could call it a gate; it was poorly designed and practically anyone could walk through it. You stepped onto the bridge, only to jerk your foot back because it immediately broke in half. Half was dangling against the cliff, and the other half had swung into your side of the cliff.

"͟D̶o̴͡ ̡n̷̶o̵͢t ́͝ẃorr̷͘ỳ,̨͜ ́de͟͟͏a̴r̨͡ ̵͜m̴͏ous̴e.͏̴͘ ̢̢M̡͘y͜ ̧͢sons͏ ̡͡͞t̸̵̛è̛nd ̷͘͟ţ͡o͘ ̨͢p̵̀l̢͜a͏̕y ́aroun͏̶̶d͟͞ ҉̀͝w̢i̷th҉̡͘ ̵p̵̶̕é͘t̨s҉̨ ̶̛b҉̷e̶f̴o҉͠͞r̡e t̸̛͟hŗ̵o͘͘w҉͏̕ing̀ ͡th̛̀́e̴̷̡m҉̵͘ ̵̛awa̸y̴͘.̴̀ ̵̵̀I̡̨'҉̴ḿ̡͟ śų̴r̵é t͝hȩy̷̡'̷̸̨ll̶̢ ̢͘dȩ̶͞f̛͜͟in҉҉í̷͟te̡l͞y͘ ͏̢w̢a̛n҉t҉͝ ̴t҉ó ҉k̨e̴̡e̢̛p͘͘ ̸͝͝ **y̶o͜u͜͠**.͡͞"̶̢ (Don’t worry, dear mouse. My sons tend to play around with pets before throwing them away. I’m sure that they’ll definitely want to keep **you**.)

_Yay?_

"̛Nǫ̷̛t͟ ͏yay̶̧͜.͢͢"͢ (Not yay.)

_Okay._

You froze in place, staring at the gap where the bridge used to be. The footsteps slowed as they got closer to you, and you remained still like a statue.

_Smart move._

“Human, don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” You shook your head from side to side on purpose. Even though you may die where you stand, you were still going to be a smartass.

“Alright then, I’ll teach ya. Free of charge. Turn around and shake my hand.” You turned slowly with your hands clenched at your side in case you needed to throw a punch and run, but you were hesitating again. Should you humor them and hope they’re friendly instead? You paused once again, because you found yourself face to face with a short skeleton.

“c’mon, i’m not gonna bite ya!” You reluctantly stretched out your hand to meet his bony one.

_Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…_

On the moment you made contact, a shockwave surged throughout your body. The intensity was borderline painful and you ended up speaking before thinking.

“Fucking hell, don’t use thunder wave, Skelechu! Fuck me, that has to be the third mistake today!” The audible gasp in your head made you realize that you had voiced your inner thoughts by accident. You could feel the familiar warmth of embarrassment and anger swirl inside; you wanted to melt into the snow despite it not being physically possible. The skeleton’s confusion at your statement made you feel more of whatever this combined feeling was. Somewhere in the trees, you could hear the faint noises of giggling. Unfortunately, the skeleton noticed them too.

“ahem, you don’t peg me as a ventriloquist, so why don’t you call your little friends over?” As if on cue, both of them emerged from the trees. You could hear a little ‘no’ from Flowey as they walked out. Neither of them made an attempt to get closer. The skeleton laughed, and the realization slapped you across the face.

_If this one is a complete asshole that tried to kill me back there, I bet that your other one is just a ray of sunshine!_

"̷͘I w̧o̷̧͜u͠ĺd͟͞͏n̵'͟͜t͝҉̡ ̴v̵̢͡iè̴w̸͡ i̸͢t̕͟ a͡s̸̵ ̶ą̴ ̨́͟m̶u̴͘͟rd̸͡ę͝ŗ̸̧ ̛͜͠a҉̧t̢ţ̶͟e͢m͡҉̴pt͞.̡ ́͜͞Í̧͜t҉͠ ̵̵̷w̶a̶̵s̡͘ ҉mò̷͏ŕe̕ o̧͜f̨ ̷́a̧͞ ̷͘t̀͞e̕s̶͢͡ţ̛ ̕o͜͠f̸̢ yo̶u̸̴r̨͢ ̸p̵h̸y҉̷s̀͢͝ì͢c͠҉a͘͠l͘͘ ͜cap̵͝͞a҉̶bi͢͢lit̶́͡ies͢.̧" (I wouldn’t view it as a murder attempt. It was more of a test of your physical capabilities.)

_Test, my ass._

"̷I҉ ͏͟͞b͘el̢ie͡v̕͟͟e̵͡ ͞th͜͠a̵͢t ̛́͜yo̢͜͝u̷̧͏ ͜͠a̵l͟r͞͡e͘ą͟d͠y̵̡͠ ͘ơ̕͢f̨͟͠fe͟͞͏r̷͠e͞d͜ ̵̢i͟͡t̀͞ ̸̀͘t̢ò̶ ҉h̨͟im̵͟.͢"̡͜ (I believe that you already offered it to him)

"̕B҉o͝th̶͜ ͞o̴̕f҉̕ ̡͏yơ̡ú,̸ ͡͏w̸ą̷̧t̵͘ch҉̕͟ ͡y͝ơ͝u͢r̴͟͡ ҉̷la͡͠n͟͡gu͜a͜͡g͞è͞!̷"̨ (Both of you, watch your language!) You were about to respond when you heard the skeleton trying to get your attention.

“oi, buddy! you hear what i’m sayin’?” You guiltily nodded, and the skeleton groaned.

“tell ya what. since you were the first human to run for the bridge, i’ll repeat myself. just for you, capisce?” Your mouth twitched into a tiny smile before you could stop yourself. The skeleton suddenly broke out into a sweat and wiped away part of it with the sleeve of his black jacket. You noticed that the hood was lined in a fuzzy material and you remembered that you were cold.

“the name is sans. sans the skeleton. i’m supposed to eliminate any human that comes across here, but i’m not feeling it today. you’re lucky that I was covering this part today instead of my brother. he’s a human hunting fanatic! shit, gotta cut this short. hurry and cross the bridge, it’s almost time to switch!” Sans turned you around and pushed you across the bridge that you swore was broken a moment ago. The blue glow around it wasn’t there either, but you didn’t focus on it since Sans kicked you when you made it safely across. You shot him a glare to which he responded with a cheeky smile.

“think fast, ‘cause he’s coming real soon!”

_Shit!_ You ran for the first thing that you could hide behind. It was a wooden stand that was well maintained without a single snowflake on its surface. After diving behind it, you hugged your knees close to your chest and hoped that Frisk, Chara, and Flowey were well hidden. You held your breath when Sans spoke.

“sup, bro.”

“SANS. EXPLAIN WHY YOUR TRAPS ARE DISMANTLED.”

“you know me, i prefer a good chase before the fun. by the way, did you see three humans and a traitor pass by? two of them gave me the slip, but i think one might be in snowdin still.”

“THREE? HOW PECUILAR. I SHALL KEEP THAT IN MIND.”

“somethin’ wrong with ya, bro? i noticed that you’re not checking my station like you usually do.” Suddenly a line of bones rose from the ground, one had pierced through the stand and split it in half. Luckily, your half was still standing upright and you managed not to scream externally. Internally, however, was absolute chaos.

_Holy fucking shit-stack on a platter in cat piss, what the flying fuck was that?!_

"́T̴h͞at͜ ̸͢ẁ̶a͏s͘͜ ̶̢̧a͠ ̡̀w̕ęĺ̨l̶ ͜͞͠e̴x̢ec͜u͏te̷d͢ ̸͘̕p̢̛l͘à́͞ņ͠. ͟͟E͢nl͜͏i̴̢̕s̵̡͜ti҉̛n͠g̡̀ ̸t̢̢͝h̨͞e̸̡͢ ͘͟h̀̕e̵͟͞ĺ̵p͘ o͏͞f́ ̡͝͞h̵̸́i͏s̷͏̷ ̧͜b̨͘ŗoth͏̨͠ę̶͘r̨̕͝ u͝n̸͏d͟e̕r̷̛ ̶́͏t̢̨́h̡̨̛e͞ ̶͜p̶ŗ̶et̴͏e҉n̨s̡͠e̶̕͝ ͏o͘͝͡f̴̧ ͏a̵͠n̢̨͞ ͢͜oŗ̛͘d͠͏̶èr͞ļ̵̸y̢ ͞r̷̢e͘p̢or͏t ҉͡w̢͘as̡ ̛͝q̨ùi͟t҉e ́͢͠c̶u͠҉n̡͢n̶͠i̴̵n̡͟g̵. ̴̛̕Ì̶̛'̛͟m̴̷̕ ̸̴̀wo̧ul̸҉͘d̴̨ b̶͢e̵ v̧͘͟e̷͜r̢̛y̢̕ ̸̨͘p͠r͏̛̕oųd̀̀ o͜f̵̢ ͝th̸͜e҉͘m̷ ̕͘i̴̛f̀̕ i̕t̷͜ w̵͢a̛҉̧s҉ ́͠ą̸n̵̵͞y͟ ̵̕o͢t̛h̛e̵̢̕r͘͘ h̷u͟m͞an.̢̕͡ ̶͠҉Uǹ̵fo͝rt̢̛͢u̕n҉̀atȩ͞ļ̢͡y,̵͘ ͟t̶͜͜h͠ęỳ͏ ̶͡͝o̕v͡͞͝e͢҉r̴ȩ͟ş́t͠i̵͞͏m̨̢at̨̕͘é͞d ̨́yo̴̕͢u̡r̶ po҉̷s͟it͏i̶̵̕o͘n ̢͠a̷n̶d̡ ̸̨t͢͟he̶͠y͡ ̢͘͞d͞ò̸͘n̸'̴́͟t҉̕ k̵n̨o̴̧w̵͞ ̕w̷ḩ́͜o ̷t́̕h̸ey̢ ̡̕͘à͞r͏̶҉è͡ d̸͟e̵͘͡a͠l̀͞i̛͡n͠g ͞w͏͡i̧th̴.̀͟ ́͜M̛͜o͜u͜͏s̸̶̕e͘, ̛ta͡k̴e̶͟͢ ̶tḩȩ ͡v̧a̛͏̸ņ͏g͜͜u҉a̵r͝d̴̢͝ ̨͜͡p̶̧͟o͠s̨͟͢i̸ti҉o̕n̶͠.͢ ͏͘͘T͘e̵̛l͏͘l̛ t͜͞h͞e͟͠ ̛̕ot̴h̛er҉ ͘͟t̢̛w̴̛o͢͝ ̶̨t̶̢͘ơ̡͢ ̸̧s̨̡t͡an̶̴d̡͡͡ ̛̛d̛o̵w͜n̷. ̡͝It̴̴̢'̷͝ś ̷̨ti͝m̶̷e̷͘͜ t̨͟͞o̕͟ ͢s͏͞e̴͜ȩ ̧if҉̨͝ t̶̴͘ḩ͞e̴̡y̡͢͟ ͞c͏̀an̢ s͞u̴̴̢r͘͞pa̵͢s̷͜s͟͞ ͟t̷͝h̕͝ȩ̶́i͠r ̡̢d͜͡e̶̢͢a͜͠r̵͏ ̶̛f͟at҉͢h̛̕er.̶͠" (That was a well-executed plan. Enlisting the help of his brother under the pretense of an orderly report was quite cunning. I would be very proud of them if it was any other human. Unfortunately, they overestimated your position and they don’t know who they are dealing with. Mouse, take the vanguard position. Tell the other two to stand down. It’s time to see if they can surpass their dear father.)

You did exactly as you were told. Jerkface Mcgee didn’t leave you astray back there with the flying femur of doom, so you kept reassuring yourself that you were in safe hands. It helped that you were still harboring a small amount of anger. The taller skeleton looked amused and a bit surprised at your sudden appearance.

“IT SEEMS THAT I MISSED THE HUMAN, SANS. CARE TO HELP ME RECTIFY THIS MISTAKE?”

“i thought you’d never ask.”


	7. Chilled to the Bone

The number of bones that were flying at you was amazing, probably more than enough to fill a graveyard. They came at high speeds in alternating patterns of blue and white. In the beginning, you panicked at the sight of the first blue bone that zipped by and you ended up avoiding it entirely. The voice proceeded to scold you afterwards, telling you to just stand still when those types of attacks come into play. Its advice was well-timed, because you saw a barrage of blue and white bones sliding from the front and behind you. You caught yourself humming when you were dodging the barrage of bones, and your nonchalant attitude angered the skeleton brothers. Sans moved his hand, his left eye glowed red, and you were slammed into the ground. You coughed up blood onto the snow and felt the residue drip down the corner of your mouth.

“̛͘J̶̧͡u̕͞m̀͟p ̨n̸o͟͡͡w̷͜͜ ҉͞i̷̢͝f̸͜ ̛y͢o̶̶͡u̵ ̧d̸̛o͘n’̨͝t̕͟͡ ̕̕w͢͟ą͠n͟t̢҉ t͝ǫ̶ ̵͞͡b̴́͠e̛͞ ͠͡į̡ḿ̛ṕ̴̢a̶͜l͜e͜҉d̢!”͢͜ ̡̕ (Jump now if you don’t want to be impaled!) Your body ached in pain as you jumped, narrowly missing the pointed bones that erupted from the ground. You didn’t see the blue bone behind you and it felt as if it was going to take your head with it. The impact was strong enough to knock you forward, making you plummet to the bones.

“see ya in hell,” shouted Sans while his brother averted his eyes at the last second. Fear made you keep your eyes open as you fell to your demise.

The bones retracted before they could pierce your flesh.  You darted your attention to the skeletons to look for a sudden change in heart, but you only saw Chara slashing at the taller skeleton that was covering Sans. Your body glowed blue as your acceleration dropped and you landed softly into the ground.

“your friend’s fine, now stop attacking!” Frisk ran over to you when Chara was in an impasse with your opponents. You heard your inner voice slinging vitriolic words at Sans for actually harming you, which made you surprised and a tiny bit distraught. Frisk patched you up to full health with bandages and candy before hugging you and planting kisses on your face.

“Please run away if it’s too much for you. We can-“

“I’m fine,” you interjected. Your pride kicked in when you made eye contact with Sans’s smug face. You hastily thanked the others for helping you out as you stared down Sans, visualizing daggers pointed at him.

_Cocky bastard, I’m not slipping up this time._

The battle resumed immediately, and you dodged the flurry of bones angrily. Unfortunately, you were blinded by anger and you ended up taking damage from a couple bones. You and the voice growled in frustration, but the soothing voice started to sing. It was your rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon.”

You steadied your heart and filled it with determination.

You hummed along with its singing when you stepped around the waves of bones. The skeletons included new patterns with blue bones; you found yourself mindlessly listening for where to step, despite Sans trying to break your concentration by shouting insults. Upon noticing this, you immediately had one question come to mind.

_I’m making Sans angry, but when is he going to use the giant laser thingy?_

"͢I̷̧͝t̡͘̕ ͞i̡͝s̶̵͞ ̶͟n͢͟͡o̶̷t̀ cà͘̕l̀͏le̛d̢̕͏ ͟͜t̢̡h҉͘̕a̶̕͝t͏̢!̸͜ ̕͢͠Th̡̨̕e ̡̕co̴̡r̀ŗ̢e̕͜͟c҉t n̶̛͞a͡m̵̧e̛ ̀͡ìş̛ ̢͘͜'̡͜b̡l̨a͡s̶̡͡t̷͞e̕r̷͏̢'́̕,͞҉ ҉̕͘b̧͏҉u̴͝t͝ ̴̀͏h͏̛̛e͡ ́͘͟m̴̢i͡͠g̴̵͝h͘t̶̸ h͠av́̕͠e̢̛ ͝͞c̛h̛a͟͠n͞g̸e̕̕͡d̷͢ ҉i̶͏t̀͟.̴"̸̕ (It is not called that! The correct name is ‘blaster’, but he might have changed it.)

_Calm down, I was pretty close!_

"̸͘͡A̷̕h̡ ̡҉͜y̢͢eś̢,̡ ̸͝e̢͜͏v̕é̢ry̨o̵̕n͏͏͘e̶ ̷k̶͢no̢͠w̛s͡ t̶h̴͢҉a͟t̵̵ ͏̵̴'bl̢a̢͟͝s̕͢t͠er̸'͜͟ ̴̸̕i̛s͏ e͘q̴͡uív͞a̶le͢n̸̨͢t͘̕ ̕t̢҉o ̸͡'̨͠g̨̡i̧̧a͟ńt͝ ͠l̢a̡s̡̢eŕ̛ ̸͠t̴͞h́͠i͘n͜͡g҉͜y'̵.̶"̴ (Ah yes, everyone knows that ‘blaster’ is equivalent to giant laser thingy.) You let out a little ‘hmph’ as you sidestepped the next line of bones. You bounced in place impatiently for their next attack, but it never came. The skeletons were whispering to each other and eyeing you suspiciously. The urge to listen in, or interrupt it like a first class asshole, was powerful. You resisted grudgingly and some time had passed when they turned to face you.

“HUMAN,” said the other skeleton. “MY BROTHER AND I HAVE DECIDED FOR IT TO BE WISE TO KEEP YOU ALIVE. PERHAPS YOU MAY FIND YOURSELF IN OUR CARE IN THE FUTURE; BUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE BLUE ATTACKS WOULD REQUIRE MORE EXAMINATION. NEITHER SANS NOR I HAD TAUGHT YOU WHAT TO DO AND WE ARE THE ONLY MONSTERS CAPABLE OF DOING IT. HOW INTRIGUING. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WISH TO CHALLENGE YOU AND YOUR COTERIE.”

_Did you actually name your son that? Does that mean Sans’s middle name is ‘the’?_

̡"̡͘He ̶̀p̶͜͠r̶ef͠er̢̢̕r̷̕e̶d̨҉ t̷ò ̕͜b̛́e̕ ̢̛c̸̢a͢͡l̶͢͝l̶ed͢ ̨t̨͢h͟͢ą́t̨ at͠ ̡̧a ́͏y̴o͜u͏͜ng͏̴ ͠ag̡͜e͡͡͏. ͟҉́H̸͘u͜m͘o҉̀r͘͜ ̵h̶im͏ ̷or̵͢ ͘͢èl̸se ͘͢I̕'̨̛ll ́d̸̕is̶̡p͘͠o͢s͢e ͜of҉̡̛ ͝͞y̴̶͢ò͞u ͝m̡̛͞y̵s̡e̴l̛̕f.̷̀͡"̡̕͜ (He preferred to be called that at a young age. Humor him or else I’ll dispose of you myself.) You tried to retort, but it sounded like Papyrus was almost finished with his ramblings about the many traps that he had prepared in advance. Part of you wanted to mock his absurdly long explanation with the classic hand puppet gesture and the other part wanted walk past him with both middle fingers raised high in the sky.

̛̕҉"̶̸Ḑ͘͟ơ̡͏n'͏̶́t̸̵.̶̛"̨̕ (Don’t.) You clamped your mouth shut and patiently waited for him to finish up. You caught some things here and there, like a giant floor puzzle made by some doctor and guard dogs, until Papyrus finally reached the end.

“I WONDER HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD MAKE IT OUT ALIVE, HUMANS. FAREWELL!” Papyrus walked away, leaving you alone with Sans. The others quickly went to your side and bombarded you with a million questions. You were still in a bad mood, so you tuned out the majority until you could answer the final questions.

“Are you okay?”

“How did you do that?!”

“Do you realize what you just got us into?” You could feel the guilt loom its ugly head over you.

“Yes, I’m fine. It was mostly luck and anger that helped me, and I’m sorry.” The conversation could’ve erupted once more, but Flowey realized that Sans was still standing near you and told everyone to whisper instead. Frisk was assessing your current status when Chara strode over and picked up Sans by the collar of his red turtleneck sweater.

_Code Red! Code Red!_

“Chara, please put Sans down,” said Frisk.

“Oh, I’ll put him down. Down into a grave for that little stunt he tried to pull!” You gave Chara a small whack on the back to express how you also felt angry, but didn’t want them to fight for you. They lowered Sans gently, with encouragement from Frisk, and spat out a half-assed apology. You were surprised that they didn’t take your advice to drop him. Sans adjusted his clothes before shooting an accusing glare at you.

“you’re all a bunch of freaks, ya know that?”

“Said the talking skeleton who doesn’t know that there are more colors other than red and black. Honestly, every single monster here looks like they just emptied a Hot Topic store and they only angst in the darkest of nights with everyone in the world against them. What the fuck is with that gold tooth anyway,” retorted Chara.

“Is someone talking from experience?” You burst into laughter, not the kind where it sounded like tiny bells jingling but the one where it ended with you wheezing on the ground. You made a tiny remainder to congratulate Frisk for the riposte. The edge was too strong for you to handle, but you weren’t as mad as you were before after realizing this. Maybe it was some sort of dress code, because it was definitely not a coincidence. You did look in Toriel’s drawers after all. You felt your phone vibrate in your pocket.

_Speak of the goat-mom._

“Hey, Tor-Mom. How are you?” You hoped that she didn’t catch you trying to say her name again.

“Why haven’t you called?”

“What?”

“Why haven’t you called me?! It has been exactly one hour, twenty-five minutes, and forty seconds since our last call. Did you know that you could’ve died or suffered some form of torture in that span of time?! I was on my way to go on a rampage to recue you if you didn’t answer!”

“I’m fine. I couldn’t call because I was in a fight with Sans and Papyrus, but I promise to call you next time, okay? Bye!” You ended the call quickly, but you did catch Toriel furiously shouting about not letting monsters breathe near you. You looked up from your phone to notice that you were still lying in the snow on your back. The view was breathtaking until you were face-to-face with an upside-down Sans.

“need a hand, weirdo?”

“Are you just going to detach your arm and give it to me?” Sans grumbled as a blue glow enveloped you. As he lifted his arm, your body levitated upwards at the same rate. With a flick of his wrist and lowering of his arm, you found yourself back on your feet. Frisk helped brush off the snow that clung onto your clothes as you tried to keep warm.

“Does this mean we can be verte-bros now,” questioned Frisk while bouncing their eyebrows at Sans. The skeleton broke out into a sweat again and let out a short, forced laugh.

“if I were you, i’d drop the goody-two-shoes act and blend in. this means getting your hands dirty like what your friend was doing to my bro earlier." You were expecting him to disappear after saying something like that, but he just stood there. You watched him fidget, shove his hands into his coat pockets, and try to burrow his skull into his sweater like a turtle. You leaned down so you could whisper to Flowey, even though his face was in an awkward position. If you were back on the surface, someone could assume that you were talking to Frisk’s chest.

“Hey, Flowey.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you know about those two?”

“To you guys, he and his brother are very dangerous. Rumor has it that they already took a couple souls to help Sans survive and Papyrus is trying to overthrow King Asgore. Don’t know why he wants to join the Royal Guard though. We’re better off to not go near Sans at all. When Sans first found me, he ripped me out of the ground and slowly tore bits and pieces of my petals off. He looked like he was enjoying it too; I hate to see what would happen if he got hold of one of you guys. The other monsters refuse to go near them because they appeared out of nowhere. They’re famous for making any monster talk or getting rid of anyone that stands in their way. I recommend that we just go through whatever’s up ahead and ignore-wait, where are you going?” You were making your way to the skeleton like a badass stand user facing off against a vampire that hijacked your great-grandfather’s body.

But in this case, you were just pissed off at the skeleton who tried to murder you with his brother. You were thinking of extending an olive branch to them, but hearing about them just made you more pissed off. You stopped at a point where you had a reasonable amount of distance between you two.

_So this little shit likes to torture for shits and giggles? If that was equivalent to a prank, then the gloves are off!_

The snowball that you hastily created hit San’s back with a satisfying thud. He growled when he turned around, but you weren’t so easily intimidated.

“Bring it,” you declared as you prepared another snowball. Suddenly, you both were hit with snowballs that came from a certain someone’s direction. You prepared to lob one at Chara’s head until Frisk stood in the middle of the battlefield.

“Alright, I want to see a good and clean snowball fight. No headshots, iceballs, or any form of snowball surprise. Team attacks and snow showers are allowed, but you cannot stay partners forever. Hitting anyone on the sidelines will result in a five minute timeout. I don’t want to see any shield tactics either!”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Chara and Sans scowled at each other even though they said the same thing at the same time. Everyone did agree to the rules and snowballs flew from all directions. In a few minutes, you were smiling like you were up to no good. The fight started to lean towards Chara as they yanked part of the broken stand and used it as an impromptu fort. Once they were behind cover, snowballs bombarded the field. Every inch of your body was hit with snow until a familiar blue glow wrapped around you and whisked you into the forest. Your savior from a cold, hard death was Sans. He motioned you to get closer to him.

“we gotta take this one off their high horse, are ya with me?” You agreed because revenge is a dish best served cold.

“good human. climb onto this thing and sweep all the snow off of that branch over there,” he explained with a shit-eating grin. He made a blaster appear, without any noise to your surprise, and pressured you to get on top quickly.

“if you do it right, then some of the snow should fall on top of them. they’ll never see it coming.” A more dastardly scheme came to mind, but the blaster zipped away and you had to focus on gripping for dear life. It hovered over the branch that Sans pointed to earlier, but it was too far away for you to reach.

“Hey, buddy. I know that your owner told you to carry me over here, but I have a better idea. It’s going to take some power from your end, but it will be worth it. Want to give it a try?” The blaster hummed a low pitch and listened to your plan as it made its way to the second tree on the right. You took a couple deep breaths before tapping the blaster and gripping it to signal that you were ready. You almost slipped off when the blaster enthusiastically rammed into the tree, causing it to fall into the other one like dominoes. You watched as the last one was tilting just enough for all the snow to fall without the tree falling too. Chara looked up to the massive cloud of snow as it fell on them, almost burying them completely. Their head popped up from the snow and they looked stupefied at you, possibly from the fact that you were on top of a blaster. You decided to shout triumphantly in their face when the blaster hummed at a higher note.

“Get dunked on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone had a happy holiday! I was kinda swamped with family outings and it didn't help that my break started right on Christmas Eve. Luckily, I don't go back until the 4th, so I hope to have the next chapter up soon.
> 
> Thanks for your support and feedback! (◍•ᴗ•◍)


	8. A Shocking Turn of Events

“holy fuck, who knew the freak had the guts to pull that kind of shit,” Sans exclaimed; almost making you jump at how close he was suddenly. Wasn’t he still in the forest when the snow hit its target? You pushed the question away immediately when you heard Chara laugh, despite having their lower half submerged in enough snow to bury part of a car.

_Oh shit, we broke them._ With a nicely timed surge of adrenaline, you yanked your companion out of the massive snow mound and rapidly apologized like your life depended on it. Now was not the time or the place to get on their bad side; shivers trickled down your spine as you recollected the inhuman smile they gave you when you accidently broke Chara’s favorite cup. Unfortunately, your attempt to allay the demon only resulted in more laughter that was louder. You were in the middle of debating to call Toriel one last time when Chara ruffled your hair and kissed you on the forehead without warning. If there was a time where you could fade out of existence, now would’ve been a great time.

“I’m finally rubbing off on you and I couldn’t be prouder.”

_Oh._

“But you do realize that this means war, okay?”

**_Oh._ **

Before Chara could classically tackle you into the snow, Frisk held them back and brushed off the snow that still clung onto Chara’s sweater.

“That’s enough fighting in the snow for one day,” Frisk said as they wrapped the scarf that was in your backpack around Chara.

“we wasted too much time; we gotta get goin’ now if you wanna keep pap happy. let’s move it, humans!” Despite your gut telling you to not follow Sans again, you marched right behind him. You snuck a glance behind you, only to see Chara blowing a raspberry at Sans and Frisk grinning from ear to ear. Flowey looked distraught, but at least he wasn’t whispering to himself this time. Slowly but surely, the group was warming up to the short skeleton that was very close to murdering you in a very unpleasant form of impalement. You admitted that you were still mad, and you decided to try and make yourself hate Sans. The best way to pick a fight with someone was to anger them with awful jokes.

“Hey, Sans?”

“What?”

“I want to tell you a story about a skeleton that I heard. You might like it, because I found it to be quite _humerus_.” You waited for any incoming bones in case of the usual reaction that you would get, but he continued to walk ahead. Maybe he didn’t hear you? You decided to pull out another one from your repertoire.

“What was the skeleton’s excuse for sleeping on the job? He claimed that he was being worked _down to the bone_!” Sans stopped walking and stood still like a statue. You felt a hand grip your shoulder and you turned to see whom it was. It was Chara, and they looked you straight in the eye with a dead serious tension around them.

“Now he’s going to kick your ass.” Chara sauntered past Sans with their hands in their pockets; you felt as if you had crossed a line since Sans hasn’t said a word.

“Promise me that you’ll live, okay?” Frisk gave you a little peck on your cheek after you pinky swore with them.

“I liked your jokes,” Flowey chirped before Frisk left you to catch up with Chara. Once they were out of range, you dug your grave with one last skeleton pun.

“C’mon Sans, these jokes are great and you haven’t given me a laugh out of pity! Throw me a bone here; I can’t stand it when people give me the _cold shoulder_.” You were about to explain your clever connection with the temperature and the silent treatment when he burst out laughing. On one hand, this wasn’t going as you had planned. On the other hand, you found out that Sans had a really nice laugh and appreciated your puns. He was even tearing up a bit as he turned around.

“oh my god, you’re a fuckin’ riot! i knew that you were gonna be my favorite out of all of them! here’s a word of advice from one pun aficionado to another.” He closed his eye sockets, which made you briefly question the anatomy of skeleton monsters, and spoke in a solemn manner.

“you should really drop the goody-two-shoes act. down here, absorbing a human soul can make you a stronger monster. you could even become a boss monster with that kind of power. if that ain’t enough to sweeten the pot, a human soul is worth a lotta gold. a whole tribe of monsters could live in the capital and never work again for their entire lives. the king also promised to grant any wish to the monster that hands him a soul. anyone would stab their buddy in the back for those rewards. unfortunately for everyone else, paps and i have been hunting humans before the king’s speech. so ya see, it’s really useless to try and befriend us, human.”

“Useless? More like, it’s right up my alley! Assholes tell me that my major is useless in the real world, so maybe making friends with monsters can get them to shut up.” You were able to elicit a tiny chuckle from him before he opened his eye sockets. They were just empty holes with no sign of life, but you still felt his eerie gaze.

“well then, i’m gonna have a great time with you guys.” Sans’s expression returned to normal before you could fully register his threat, and he grabbed your wrist to force you to follow him.

“c’mon human, we gotta ton of traps to dismantle.”

“Don’t you mean a skele- _ton_?”

“Hah! Nice one, weirdo.” You awkwardly trailed behind Sans and occasionally wiggled your arm to symbolize your discomfort. Eventually, you came across an open field that had no surrounding trees and an area that was moderately covered with snow. Papyrus was at the far end, tapping his foot impatiently. His face lit up when he noticed the both of you, which led to your companions to look in your direction as well. Flowey looked just as relieved as the other two, but there was a hint of confusion on his face.

“EXCELLENT WORK IN FINDING THE LAST HUMAN, SANS. MAKE YOUR WAY TO MY SIDE SO THAT I MAY BEGIN WITH THE EXPLANATION OF THE FIRST TRAP.”

“sure.” Sans walked over to Papyrus’s side, but he had dragged you over there as well. Papyrus stared at you before sighing in annoyance and addressing his brother.

“SANS, PLEASE MOVE THE HUMAN.”

“ok.” He pushed you closer to Papyrus.

“NOT HERE! MOVE THEM ASIDE!”

“ok.” You were pushed to one side of the field, nut not the same side that Chara, Frisk, and Flowey were on.

“YOU JUST PUT THE HUMAN ON THE WRONG SIDE! MOVE THEM TO THE OTHER HUMANS!” You briefly considered walking over there yourself, but Sans was already pushing you to the others. They were trying their best not to laugh as they watched Sans push you all the way back to Papyrus.

“DON’T BRING THEM BACK!” The whole situation reminded you of those old fashioned cartoons that you watched when you were little. Part of you expected steam to blow out of his eye sockets since he didn’t have ears.

“ok,” Sans said nonchalantly as he shoved his hands in his pockets, making no attempt to move you again. You asked the others if you should walk over to them, but Chara covered Frisk’s mouth and told you to stay put.

“THE HUMAN IS STILL HERE, SANS!” Papyrus roared and gestured to you in a manner reminiscent to that one photo of a celebrity and his wife on the red carpet.

“didn’t you say to not bring them back to the other humans?” Papyrus’s face froze in silent anger before composing himself and grumbling.

“NEVERMIND. OTHER HUMANS AND ANNOYING FLOWER, PREPARE TO FACE THE DREADED MAZE OF ELECTRICITY! IF YOU TAKE ONE WRONG STEP, THIS ORB SHALL DELIVER A SHOCK MORE POWERFUL THAN MY BROTHER’S JOY BUZZER!” Chara, who was now intrigued, took a step forward. The orb buzzed and gave a shock to Papyrus instead. Chara smiled at the new discovery while Papyrus was flushed with embarrassment. They proceeded to step back and forth until Papyrus yelled.

“ENOUGH, HUMAN! YOU STAY STILL WHILE I RECTIFY THIS MISTAKE! THIS ONLY HAPPENED BECAUSE I HAD RECENTLY DESIGNED THIS ONE AND HAD NO HUMANS TO TEST IT OUT!” You watched as he marched through the maze; he unintentionally made a path in the snow, and Chara was trying their best to not laugh. When Papyrus returned, bones rose from the ground and tossed the snow around. Despite the attempt to cover the path, the walls of the maze were now outlined by the snow that was undisturbed. Frisk and Flowey was the first to go through, politely walking through the maze as if they had intruded a private moment and needed to leave the premises immediately. Chara skipped through it as if they were frolicking in a field of flowers.

“WHAT! I MEAN, JUST ACCORDING TO PLAN! I KNEW THAT YOU WERE GOING TO MANEUVER THROUGH SO EASILY. THE MAZE IS MERE CHILD’S PLAY,” Papyrus exclaimed. “THE OTHERS SHALL NOT BE SO SIMPLE. I WOULD NEED TIME TO REFINE THE REST SO THAT I MAY CLAIM YOUR SOULS. SANS! PREPARE THE NEXT ONE!” He spun on his heel and strode into the distance.

“Did ya have to skip,” Sans interrogated Chara.

“Of course,” they chirped gleefully.

“I wanted to poke the side so that he wouldn’t feel bad, but Flowey was kind of worried.” Sans glared at them as they avoided looking at his face by focusing on the ground or the trees. He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“i gotta go. traps need to be set up and i have places i need to check before you guys reach my part. see ya!” Sans turned his back to you and with a wave of his hand, he flashed out of sight.

_That wasn’t suspicious at all!_

"͘Lȩt̷̢̀'s ̵ḿ̀o͏̨͠v̸ę̶͟ o̵̸̢n̨͠ ͝t̶̢̢o͠҉̨ ̨͡t̸h̕͟e̷ ̢n͢͏̵è̴̢x̧t ͜͢p͢u͟z҉͏̨z̡͠l̴̀e̵̷. ̛͟I͜͡'̧͠ḿ̷͝ ͢͝s͘͞u̴͘r̴͞e͘͢ t̶̷̢h̢a҉̸t ̸̵y̶͜o̵̸u͏'͞ļ͜l͢ ͏͝͞d͜o̕͢ ̨͏we҉l̨̨l̷͡ ́҉in ̴̨th̶̀i̕ş ͢o̸n͘͠e t̴͠o̶͢o̵͜.͝"̛͟ (Let's move on to the next puzzle. I'm sure that you'll do well in this one too.)

"̡͘P̷ù͠͝z͟͝҉z̧l̷̡è͞͝s҉͢͞?͘ ̧̀͜Do̡n̢͞͠'̵t̀ ý́o͘͠u̡ ͜͏dar͏e̕͝ ̵c͝o̴͜͏n̶͘͏f̀͟͞usé̴͘ ͝mý̴̡ ̡̨bo͘͢y҉̛s̷͡ ̵̨w̢̕i̷ţh͡ ̀ỳơu͡r̢͞͞ ̴͘͡įd̢i͜͡o̶͘͢t̡́i̴҉͜c̶ s͡on̕͝s̛͝.̸̷͘"̨̕ (Puzzles? Don't you dare confuse my boys with your idiotic sons.)

_Chill. We got skeletons to bamboozle._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I'd like to apologize for the long wait. School is back in session, and life is being an ass. (Doesn't help that I write the story in a journal, then I type it up on the computer before posting it here.) I'm so amazed that so many of you guys like this. One of you even drew fanart for this, which the link is in the comments if you want to see!! (it's amazing, I recommend checking it out)
> 
> If anyone wants to chat about the fic, send me drawings or thoughts, or send a reminder to type up the next chapter- my tumblr is http://wisteria-ghost.tumblr.com/ (I have to warn you, the theme is simple because I am not tech-savy despite my age)
> 
> The next chapter is gonna focus on the minor characters because there wasn't much action and I LOVE DOGS!!!


	9. The Royal Guard Dogs

After a quick call to Toriel, you encountered a monster named Lesser Dog. It growled and barked at you as it stood in a fighting stance. It looked like a Rottweiler standing on its hind legs with a sword and shield in its paws. Lesser Dog growled and barked at you menacingly as it stood in a fighting stance.

>FIGHT      > ACT       ITEM       >MERCY

>Pet      >Flee

Chara was the fastest to act, slashing downward across Lesser Dog. Its yip made you feel guilty for not stopping them, but it went right back to growling and barking again. You assumed that Chara didn’t deal a lot of damage to it. You were the next to go and tried to run away, but Chara and Frisk grabbed you. The grumpy look that they gave you was enough to make you stay put. The guilt of potentially killing it lingered even though you weren’t going to lay a hand on the dog. Frisk was the last to go, carefully approaching it while it was growling at them. You watched with bated breath as they stretched towards Lesser Dog and gave it a tender pat on the head. Instead of trying to bite Frisk’s hand, it barked happily and wagged its tail. The image should’ve warmed your heart if you didn’t notice something _off_ about the dog. Lesser Dog’s neck had grown a bit taller after the pet.

_Oh my god._ You ran over immediately and started to pet it with Frisk. It baffled you that the neck just kept growing more and more. Eventually, the dog’s face was no longer visible.

"It͏͠ ͟a҉p̨҉p̛ea̴̵ŗ̴̕s͏҉ ̛̛͏t̶͏h̡͠a̸̛t̢͢͞ ̧yo̵u̶̢ ͏̨m̵͠͝a͟͟͡y̨ ̸̡h̡҉͏a̛v҉e̵̢͏ ͘a p̀ro̷̵͠b́͞l̸e̶̕m.͘͡"̶͘ (It appears that you may have a problem.) You decided that it would be best to spare the dog now, but Frisk had reached the point of no return. You could only watch as Lesser Dog’s face slid into view without plummeting into the ground. When Lesser Dog started to resemble an ostrich, you pulled Frisk off and spared it. The neck retracted in the blink of an eye and Lesser Dog scurried away.

“Shall we keep going,” asked Frisk with a beaming smile on their face.

“Does it look like we have a choice?” Chara answered before you could, and the journey continued without a hitch. Flowey ended up back in your hands when the other two initiated another battle with Doggo, a sentry who couldn’t see things that stood still. Frisk didn’t waste any time petting Doggo.

“What! I’ve been pet!” You half-heartedly listened to Doggo’s yelling until your interest to the mumbling flower in your hands.

“Is everything okay?” Flowey must have assumed that you were going to stay quiet, because he was startled at the sound of your voice.

“Yes,” he suspiciously replied. It took five seconds of direct eye contact to get him to spill his metaphorical guts.

“Unless you have a magical power to transform yourself into a monster, we’re screwed once we set foot in Snowdin.”

“Don’t worry! We can crawl around and hide in the shadows instead.”

“What if you get caught in a trap? Snowdin is the home of **those two** after all. If you end up avoiding that, what makes you think that the whole town is going to help you out?”

"H͞ȩ͟ ̢̡h͝à͟s̛ a̧ p͏ơ͠in̢͢t,̴̷͢"̀ (He has a point,) stated the cold voice in your head. Although you wanted to maintain your neutral stance, you couldn’t agree more with it. The image of a town inhabited with monsters that were desperate to kill you wasn’t chimerical; it wasn’t comforting either.

“Onward,” Frisk shouted, breaking your musing.

“Look out! Here comes the Serial Monster Petter.”

“Is that even a word?” Chara shrugged their shoulders at you before interfering with Frisk’s battle against Ice Cap, a monster that flaunted the spiked hat on its head as if it was the latest creation of modern technology. You sat on the sidelines once again, but it didn’t bother you. It was more entertaining to watch the others anyway. The fight with Ice Cap was risky at first. Chara narrowly escaped the chunks of ice that flew out and Ice Cap’s cries of pain made you feel guilty. As if to add salt to its wounds, Chara swiped Ice Cap’s hat when it didn’t have the power to fight back. The hat melted in their hands. You turned your attention to Ice Cap and saw that the monster had morphed into an ice cube.

You suddenly had the urge to look in the direction of a nearby camera.

Chara’s desire to kill the monster had subsided when they heard it speak self-deprecating statements. You found yourself empathizing with it.

“You don’t need some hat to be cool,” Chara explained as they bent their knees to speak face to face. In terms of mathematics, it was still a face.

“They’re right. The hat making you feel better is fine, but it’s your personality that defines you as…” Frisk nudged you with their elbow to tell you that it was time to pull off something you two were practicing for months.

“Someone who's  _cool as ice_!” You high-fived them for successfully synchronizing your voices. Chara covered their face with their hand and sighed.

“Ugh, you’re worse than Snowdrake,” Ice Cap/Cube exclaimed before leaving the scene. After uncovering a map on the ground that revealed the location of a button, everyone quickly made their way to the other side of the spikes. Frisk had to jump when they were halfway across because someone had the bright idea to make a timed spike trap. Two growls echoed from all sides, putting a halt to your steady advance.

“What is that disgusting smell? I would rather smell rancid garbage than this!”

“Only one thing could smell this horrible.” Two hooded giants blocked off the path to leave with intimidating battle axes. Their black hoodies had seen better days without tears that you could probably fit your hand through and mysterious stains of different colors.

"̶M̴ò̴r̨e͞ ̛ḿ̴e̵͏m͢͢b҉̢͞e̵̶r̶s̕̕͝ ͘͢o͟͝͏f ̴͜͡th̴̨̕è ̨͟R̸òy̶̸al͏ ̀҉G͠u͜ą̛͟r҉̷d̀.͜ ̸Wh͏̵͝y̧ ́͘are̢ ͢҉t͘͞h̸̀͟e͘ỳ̵͢ ̶͘p̷͡o͏si҉͡t͜ì̡̕o̶͘n͡͞ȩ̨͡d ͢҉i̢̛͡n̴ ͠Snó͟w̧͜di̸ņ͝ ̛́ań҉d ͜n҉̨o̸̸͘t̴͡ ̵in̷̛͢ ͡o̡t͏̵h̷è͘r̀͡͠ ́͜a̵r͜e͢͠ąs̛̀͢?͡ ͢T̴͏̸h͝͏e̢̢͠r̸̀e̶ ͟͝i͘śn̴'̶t m̵ųc̸̢h̛͟ o͘͝f ́͢a̧̛̛ ́ta̷c̷t̕i͞c̨àl҉ ̷aḑ͠͏v̢̀͟ą̸n̶̕t͠ąg͏͘è ͘w̛̛i̕͝͞t̸͞h̛͞ ̨͟͡t̸h͏̶a̵͢͝t̶̡̨ ͏s̷͞t̡r̢̛at̢҉egy̧,̢͜ ͞͏͏ù̕n̨̨͟l̛͢e̡s̷̸͠s͞..̢."҉ (More members of the Royal Guard. Why are they positioned in Snowdin and not in other areas? There isn't much of a tactical advantage with that strategy, unless...) The blade of one axe flew towards you, making you switch your focus on the battle. You tried to shoot a menacing glare at the monsters, but you were surprised at their appearance.

_This is the greatest Royal Guard force that I’ve ever seen in my entire life._

"͟A̶͢r͜͝e ͝͠y͞o̷u j̶̢͞us̵͞t̶͟ ͡s̡a͘y̢͜i̶ǹ̡̕g͞ ͢͜͝t̡҉͞h͡a͞͏t̶́ ͢͡b͜͞e͏c̛̕a͟͡u̡̕s̨ę̷ ̷͏i̷̡ts̀͘ ͘͠m̶̢a͘i̧n̵̸͠l̵̀y̕͘͟ ͞͠c҉͢o̶m͟pǫ͜ś̸͘e̸͞d̢ ̷̷o̡f̢ ҉d͏̨͜ǫ́g͞͝ś͡?"̧́ (Are you just saying that because its mainly composed of dogs?)

  _Yes. If you need to improve something, you should add a cute animal if you can._ You tried to pet one of them, but the other made an attempt to bite your hand and yanked them away.

 “What makes you think that I would let a gross human touch my wife?!” You sniffed at your clothes, curious as to why the dogs were fixated at your scent. You were starting to feel insulted when Frisk suddenly dropped to the ground and rolled around in the snow. Everyone else watched them roll for a good amount of time before standing up with outstretched arms to the dogs. They stood completely still as the dog couple approached them. The dogs were shocked at Frisk after a couple of sniffs.

“Are you actually a puppy in disguise? You shouldn’t play tricks like that around here, young pup.”

“We almost killed you on the spot! Feel free to join us as we exterminate the humans you chased over here.” You could tell that Frisk was up to something by the wide smile on their face. They practically tackled one to the ground, petting and scratching its belly with amazing speed.

“Dogamy,” the dog exclaimed. “Are you all right?”

“I think this pup is petting me, Dogaressa.”

“What! Dogs can’t pet other dogs!” You watched as Frisk latched onto Dogaressa and ‘proved’ her wrong. The married dog couple was stupefied at their new discovery, and ran off to pet each other in a more private place. You briefly wondered where Chara ended up after the fight, and quickly spotted them on the other side of the spikes.

“How,” you mouthed to them, but they shrugged their shoulders with a playful grin. You stepped forward to chew their ass out for not helping, but froze when you heard a click under your foot. The spikes retracted with a faint ticking noise.

_Oh great, another timed spike trap!_

Chara applauded your new discovery as you walked over and punched their gut. It made you proud that you had knocked the wind out of them, but you forgot to tell Frisk what to do as a result.

“There’s a button on the ground,” Flowey yelled to them. Once they were over, Frisk sniffed at their clothes and made a face of mild disgust. Unfortunately, they couldn’t fix the issue and was forced to deal with it. Chara led the way into another area that was filled with humps of snow. You liked to call them ‘snow poffs’ and counted each one to occupy your thoughts. You were walking closer to the last one when a dog’s head popped out of it. It let out a yip as it looked directly at you with its beady little eyes. You assumed that it was a Doberman puppy and you moved closer to give a nice belly rub to the adorable little thing. The rest of the dog rose from the snow poff; its body was fully clad in massive metal armor and it had a spear in one paw.

“Oh,” you blurted out loudly. Despite its massive size, you were determined to pet this dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna confess something right now. I was in the mood to pet a dog when I was writing this chapter and I think I rushed through it. 24/7, it was just DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG in my head. I think it's because of midterm week. (;¬_¬)
> 
> You know what, positivity thoughts activate! I hope I don't fail and I hope your new year is going great! Thanks for sticking with my fanfiction and thank you for all the kudos, comments, drawings, and encouragement! (°◡°♡).:｡


	10. Deep Down, It's Still You

The session with Greater Dog was definitely the highlight of this whole adventure. It helped relieve some of the tension that you had about almost dying and falling down here in the first place. You were making sure to hide it from the others, but it was still there as a constant reminder that this whole thing was your fault. You felt your façade slipping so you hastily made a snowball and told Greater Dog to fetch it. You felt guilty after remembering that a snowball would just merge with the snow on the ground, but that didn’t stop the dog. Greater Dog scooped up all the snow in the area of where it landed and bounded towards you. It dropped the snow, almost burying you with it, and waited for your next command. You decided that the dog deserved some praise for giving you enough snow to bury Chara again, so you petted very carefully. Greater Dog tried its best not to squish you when it curled in your lap.

You had three more rounds of fetching and petting before it was time for you and the giant Doberman to part ways. Flowey had started to panic because he had spotted Sans in the background and requested for you to wrap this up. You decided to humor him, even though you didn’t see Sans when you looked. After petting it one last time, Greater Dog leapt out of its armor, placed its front paws on your shoulders, and gave your face a couple of licks. You waved goodbye to Greater Dog when it marched off, but it couldn’t have seen you because its butt was where the head was supposed to be.

“Looks like someone had fun,” Frisk said while handing you a container from your backpack. It took you some time to register what it was; you were too busy thinking about the possibility of playing with more dogs.

"̴͟A̴̕ĺ͝r̵i҉g͢͞h͠t̴,́͘͜ ̢w̶͏e͝ ̢g̸̢ę͞t i̸t!̷ ̡̨Y̴o͝u̡͝'̸͢͢r̨̛͏ę ̛͠f͢o̶̕n͝ḑ͝ ̛͢o̶҉f͟ ͏à͜g̕͝g͠r͜é͘͠s͏s̕i̧̕v͠͏̧e͢,̷͢͟ ͡͡s̶̕ẁèa̷̡t̡y̧ ͞cr̵͝e̸͟át͘͡ur̡̕͡èş͞,̵̕"͝ (Alright, we get it! You’re fond of aggressive, sweaty creatures,) the mean voice shouted.

_That explains why I want to be friends with your sons._

"̡Y̷o͢͠u̕ ̢͜i̡̕͡n̨͘s̸̛͡ol̶e҉̶͏nt ̷̀h̡́o̧͝o̡͏l̛͢i͏̶̨ga͟ń̢͜.̕"͏(You insolent hooligan.) You shook off the insult easily and continued to mindlessly follow Chara. You noticed that the area was darkening with each step, making it harder to see what was up ahead. With the cold wind smothering your nose and brushing against the barren trees that towered over you, you started to think about what you would’ve done if you were alone in this situation. You imagined that you would be terrified, left alone with the voices in your head and a talking flower after killing Toriel in self-defense. Sans and Papyrus would’ve opted to keep you alive just to toy around with you, but that was a tiny possibility. Most likely, you would be dead after you walked out of the Ruins. The thought of meeting your demise after you had stained your hands with Toriel’s blood was almost poetic, but it was still unsettling.

_Note to self: Remember to thank Frisk and Chara for diving after you._

You opened the container in your hand, hoping that Danny’s hot chocolate was still warm despite the time that had passed. To your surprise and your poor tongue, it was still piping hot. You made a mental note to ask Danny where she bought the containers when you return home.

"̨Í͜f͘͝͞ ͝y̨̢o̸͘u̷̶ ҉e̶͢͜v͠e̸͟r ̸҉m͏͘a͞k̷̕e͢͢ ̡҉i͟t̀̕ ̸o͞ú́t́̕͢ ̡́͜a̢͜l̛̀i͜v̴̀e.͝"͠ (If you ever make it out alive.)

_Is this the part where you laugh maniacally now?_ You were too preoccupied in waiting for a response to notice the change of terrain under your feet.

“Shit,” you blurted out as you slipped on the ice. Luckily, Frisk was there to ‘catch’ you before your head made contact. They didn’t have a choice to not catch you, since you were walking right in front of them. After composing yourself, you heard Flowey ask where Chara had disappeared to. You tried to look for them, but it was too dark to make out anything that wasn’t a foot away from you. You shouted Chara’s name and hoped that they weren’t too far away.

“I’m down here with the spooky skeletons!”

“HUMANS. IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND YOU MUST LISTEN TO MY COMMANDS IF YOU WISH TO DESCEND SAFELY IF YOU WISH TO JOIN YOUR COMPANION.” You took some time to contemplate the offer until Frisk agreed before you could give an answer.

“I AM ASSUMING THAT YOU ARE LOCATED AROUND THE BEGINNING OF THE AREA. ADJUST YOUR POSITION FIVE STEPS TO THE LEFT.” You stopped Frisk before they moved and began to explain why they shouldn’t do exactly as he said. Papyrus was definitely taller than the both of you, so five steps to him meant more than five steps for you. Frisk had thought that he did take into account of your height and started to argue with you. In the end, frisk reluctantly agreed to take eight steps if you took five. You asked Flowey if he would rather be in Frisk’s hands instead of yours.

“With my luck, it would be safer with them.” Flowey looked conflicted for a brief moment before turning down the offer.

“Are you sure?” He gave you the same response. You gestured to Frisk to tell Papyrus your locations so it wouldn’t be a surprise if one of you fell.

“YOU HAVE THE GALL TO DOUBT MY ADVICE?!”

“don’t start this now, pap. stab happy is right there.”

“DON’T BELITTLE ME, SANS. HUMANS, TAKE A STEP FORWARD AND LET YOURSELF SLIDE ON THE ICE. YOU SHOULD FIND A STAIRCASE WAITING FOR YOU AT THE END.”

“On the count of three,” Frisk said to you. You nodded before counting along in your head.

_One._

_Two._

_Three!_

You quasi-skated on the ice, letting your body glide to the other side without twisting your body around. Faint flashes of skating with your family appeared until you were close enough to look over the edge.

In that moment, you regretted that Frisk had persuaded you to take five steps instead of eight.

Frisk practically sprinted down the staircase, but you knew that they wouldn’t make it in time to catch you. Chara watched in horror as you fell; they were frozen in fear of what was actually happening. Flowey was screaming enough for the both of you, but you were off in your own little world to hear him. You made one last smile at your proclivity to fall into dangerous things that could kill you and lulled yourself into a false sense of comfort. You held Flowey closer, pretending that he was the Aster back home.

“Just like that dream,” you murmured.

_The same dream where you jump off the banister of the terrace while holding the potted plant._

You whispered an apology to Flowey like you would do in the dream before closing your eyes and accepting you fate.

The cold, hard ground felt strangely warm. It hummed, almost whined, beneath you and it didn’t feel like dirt or gravel. You assumed that you were on your back when you felt Flowey call out to you. You placed him upright on your stomach to hear him more clearly.

“Hey, are you awake? I mean, you did just move me right now, but I just want to make sure.” You slowly opened your eyes and sat up, brushing off the dirt that spilled from Flowey’s shoe. You briefly wondered what you were on until you caught a whiff of the smell.

Smells like bones.

You gave a couple of pats to the blaster and smiled when it hummed enthusiastically.

“oi! whyja catch them? i wasn’t gonna let them fall,” Sans shouted at the blaster. It flew over to him and tilted itself, making you slide off and sit on the ground in front of it. It brushed against you and emitted a higher note.

“augie, no. i don’t wanna play fetch; in case ya didn’t notice, that’s a human. not a stick.” The blaster, whose name was Augie, whined again at him.

“don’t give me that look. hey, weirdo! why don’t ya regroup with your friends before we start to play fetch the human?” You gave Augie one last pat before reuniting with the others.

“YOU SHOULD’VE FOLLOWED MY ADVICE, HUMAN! ALTHOUGH IT IS MY MISSION TO END YOUR LIFE, I WOULD NEVER RESORT TO FOUL PLAY. MY BROTHER, HOWEVER, IS A DIFFERENT STORY.”

“I was the one who took five steps,” you admitted. Papyrus looked shocked at you, then he placed his hand on his chin as he contemplated something.

“MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES, HUMAN. I MUST HAVE FORGOTTEN TO TAKE OUR VARYING HEIGHTS INTO ACCOUNT.”

“It’s fine,” you replied. You were caught off guard at the face Papyrus made and glanced at Flowey, expecting him to be confused. He was looking hopeful at Papyrus, but he refused to look in the flower’s direction and cleared his throat.

“SANS, WHAT IS THAT CONTRAPTION NEAR YOU?”

“this is a little something that i borrowed from the royal scientist. it’s supposed to randomly generate an obstacle course with the tiles over there, but who knows if it actually works! red tiles are like brick walls. can’t go through them, so might as well go around. blue tiles are water with a couple of piranhas mixed in. they’re really fond of orange-scented humans, but hate lemon-scented ones. yellow tiles will zap you back to the previous square. this means that blue and yellow tiles will feel like dropping a hairdryer in a bathtub. orange tiles will make you smell like oranges. purple tiles are slippery and you’ll end up on the next tile instead. it makes you smell like lemons on the bright side. green tiles will call monsters to your location, so you better be ready to fight. the pink tiles are pathetic, so i’m not even gonna bother explaining those. hopefully, you won’t get too many of those.”

You hoped that the others remembered Sans’s explanation, because you had lost track after he mentioned piranhas. Stress and anxiety flowed through you as you watched him turn on the machine. The tiles flashed different colors at an increasing acceleration. It hurt your eyes to look, but you continued to do so anyway. The tiles eventually settled on a pattern that even you could pass with ease.

It was just a path of pink tiles that was outlined by red ones. You walked through it even though Chara suggested skipping through it like in _The Wizard of Oz_. You were trying to comfort Sans about the machine’s error when he burst into a hearty laugh.

“i fuckin’ knew it! she thinks that she’s hot shit, but all she can do is make low-grade robots!” He kicked the machine before walking off. Papyrus followed after him, trying to scold him for not creating his own puzzle. The group was left alone and you took the time to ask Flowey what he thought of the whole situation, considering you were dealing with the same skeletons that had terrorized him.

“I think this is going pretty well,” Flowey stated. “I was starting to think that they only had each other’s backs, but it looks like they’re having a change of heart with you guys here!”

“Does this mean that I can go on a date with one of them?”

“Why,” you heard Chara shout. Frisk bounced their eyebrows with a smile. The next thing they said made you laugh nervously and worry about the skeleton that they had their eyes on.

“I want to go to the **bone zone**.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The giant snowstorm stopped around this time where I live and I kinda wished that it was still snowing. It gives me an excuse to lock myself inside and relax. If only my family and school would let me work in peace, then that would be total bliss.
> 
> A person can dream, can't they? Also I'm kinda sad about what happened to the Underfell blog, but I hope that they're happy with their decision!


	11. Dissonance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made this chapter longer than the others, but it feels more rushed too...  
> I'm sorry I took longer than the usual time, life decided to kick my butt and everyone else just walked on by. I hope that everything is okay on your end!
> 
> Oh, I know this is early but HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! (◍•ᴗ•◍) <3

You were in the middle of discussing the next course of action with the others when you came across the sign.

**Snowdin: Where the welcoming party is as warm as the weather. Continue on the path if you want to visit.**

_How appropriate._ You focused back on the conversation again, briefly noticing the pile of dust under the sign. Images of a yellow hall and bright flashes came to mind, along with an uncanny rise of aggression. You tried to suppress all of it with confusion as to why you felt like this now, but that only resulted in more flashes and images.

**A yellow hall with towering columns.**

**A dark laboratory with bustling monsters in lab coats.**

**Two skeletons with clipboards in front of you.**

Your head started to throb in pain when the flashes appeared more frequently. You bit your tongue in an attempt to divert your attention, but it failed.

"͡I̛t͝͞'͡͏̧s̵ ̸h̀͢a̶̡pp̸͠en͟i̢n̡g͞ ag͟҉͏a̡͜i̶͟͠n̨.̸̶͜ ̛͝F̷̕͡or͏g̶҉i̷v́҉e͟ ̛͟m̨͢ę̀,̷"҉͢ (It’s happening again. Forgive me,) the calm voice whispered. It began to sing the same melody that you would use to calm yourself when you were little. You briefly wondered how it knew that one when the only song you had sung around it was “Fly Me to the Moon.” You didn’t have the effort to ask; your emotions had dissolved with the notes and you were already humming along. Reality came back into focus when Frisk called your name with a hint of concern in their voice.

“We have to go through Snowdin as quickly as possible,” they told you. “It would be safer if you stay in between us, so you won’t get separated again.”

“This means keep your head down, be prepared to run, stick with the group, and stop flirting with death.” You nodded your head and braced for the worst when the group started to walk forward. Frisk was still worried about you; it was obvious with the way they tried not to hover over you with each step. When some buildings came into view, so did a familiar figure that was leaning against the entrance. It was Papyrus, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back.

“Stay here, we’ll signal you if it’s safe,” Chara directed before walking towards him while dragging Frisk along. Frisk signed something hastily, but they were too fast and complicated for you to understand them with your limited knowledge of sign language. Flowey, however, nodded calmly, appealing to your curiosity.

“What did they sign?”

“Oh, nothing too serious. It was just to make sure that you’re going to be okay.”

“That’s understandable.” You have been wound lately with all the monsters trying to kill you and the headache from before didn’t help. You told Flowey that you would try to be more careful from now on, but he didn’t believe you from the look on his face.

“It doesn’t hurt to check up on you from time to time.”

“True.” Flowey was about to ask you something when Chara started to gesture wildly at Frisk. You hurried over to them, not noticing the flash of disappointment on Flowey’s face.

“We wouldn’t have to worry about the other monsters if we agree,” Frisk expressed to Chara. You were afraid to move closer when you noticed the tense atmosphere between them.

“It’s not that simple, Frisk! Did you forget that every monster, including that one right there, is trying to kill us,” Chara interjected fiercely.

“Why do you keep thinking like that? Did you even consider that some of them are nice like Flowey,” Frisk shouted. You tried to step in between them, but your body was not cooperating with you. You called yourself a coward under your breath as Frisk continued to address Chara.

“You need to give them a chance before throwing them out!”

“They only need one chance to throw **you** out! The world isn’t as peachy as you think it is!” You stood in place, maintaining eye contact with the ground as anxiety gripped your throat.

“Maybe it’s like that because people like you don’t even try to make it a better place! In fact, I think you’re making it worse!” Regret flickered on Frisk’s face after saying that. Chara scowled in anger and disgust, seizing the seconds that could’ve been used for an apology.

“If that’s how you really feel, then I’ll just remove myself out of your perfect life!” Chara stormed off in the direction of Snowdin, but you stopped them from entering by grabbing onto their sleeve. Anxiety loosened its grip on you.

“Please,” you blurted out. They didn’t bother to turn around to look at you in your pathetic state.

“Let me go,” Chara said succinctly. You wanted to scream that now was not the time to evaluate society, but you only had the power to shake your head.

“Let me go already,” they repeated. Frisk started to suggest the same thing, but your heart refused again. Your grip was more intense with each passing second. It became harder to focus your vision and anger tried to seize control. The thing that was caught in your throat had traveled down to your heart; the pressure was building up inside. It looked like the others were desperately trying to reach out to you, but you couldn’t hear them anymore.

"̡̕͜Į̧t͢͢'̶̵̢s̢͜ ͟͟҉h̕a̧p̵̷p͘è͢n̡i̶͠ng͏ ̛a͏͞g̷̴͞a̸͡í̡n͘͜!͟͏̕ ̢͠Yo͘͡͡ú ͟h̕͜͡a̸vé̷ ́t̵o ̴̧̢h̀e͜͜l͝p͞ ҉me̛̕ ̢s̀t̨o̶p̵͘͠ ҉i̶͟t̶̨̨ ̸t̕͞h̕i̢͡͞ś̶͟ ̡ti̡͢m҉̴e,̸͞"́ (It’s happening again! You have to help me stop it this time,) the voice pleaded.

"͞͏̴W̢e͜ c͢͡a͏n͡͞'̵̨t̷͏ ͡͝ke̴̸̕e̡p͏͏ s̡͡h̸̸͟e̸l̸̢͟t̨e҉̷r̵͢͏in͝g̵ ̸t̷̛h̢͜e̷͞͡m̷͜ ̶̛͝l̶͠i̵͟k͝e ̢t̴̶͞h̡͠is͟ ̕f̶͜o̡͞͠r̴è͡v҉̷͏e͏ŗ̷̨.́͞͏ ͝I͟͝t̡͡͠'́s̛͟͏ ̨͢͢m̶͘o̕͠r̷e ́͘͢i̶m̡p̧̨o̵̕rt҉̨͝a͘͡n̨̢͝t̶ t̶́o̶͡͝ ͜҉s͘ho̡͡ẁ҉ ҉͡t̨h̵́e͡m ͜t҉̡h̀e͜ ţ͜r̛̕͢u̢͠t҉h́͠,҉ ̸e̴v̶ęn̴ ͠i̸҉f҉̛ y̛͠o͝u͢͝ ̛͜͝wo̵n̢'̶͘ţ͝͏ ̴͟͞a̕̕c̴k̴n҉̸o̢w̛l̷̕͢eḑ̕g̸e͠҉ ̵i̷͘t̨͢͞.͢"̛͜͠  (We can't keep sheltering them like this forever. It's more important to show them the truth, even if you won't acknowledge it.) A name resonated in your thoughts, repeating over and over until you were whispering it. The image of the two skeletons in the laboratory felt eerily familiar to you when it appeared once more. The overload of everything was so confusing; it was building and you were almost at your breaking point.

Your own body finally took pity on you as your vision faded to black.

It’s been a while since the last time you had this dream, not including the sleepless nights that followed what had happened last time. Walking in no particular direction was just what you needed to unwind, but you couldn’t silence the same thoughts that always appear whenever you mess things up. You didn’t make things worse. They’re going to get through this fight. Things are going to be okay and it wasn’t your fault.

If only you believed in what you thought, then you would’ve been enjoying this dream like you used to. Despite how dark it was, you could barely make out two faces ahead of you. The realization that you weren’t alone was frightening. The closer you walked towards them, the more horrifying they were. Somewhat skeletal visages with long cracks that connected with the eye sockets in alternating directions weren’t what you had in mind when you pictured a friendly face. You noticed that they were slowly melting like ice cream. The face on the right spoke before you could voice your willingness to suffer through another nightmare.

"̶̛I̢͘'̕m҉ ̷͠s̷ǫ ̡͝s͟͠or͏r͢y͢ ͢t̶͘h̨͡a̵̴͠t̶͝ ̷̡w̴e̷͜ ̵̨h̷a͝d̨̕ ̵̴̵to ̴͘͟m͏ę̢͏é́́t̴҉ ͢l͟͟͜i͡k̀͝e͢ ͘͟t͏͏h̷is̢͟͡.̵͞ ́͏̸W̵ȩ̡̕ ̨̀wo̕͞ú҉l̛d̶̕ l҉̷ì͜͞k̕͡͝e҉ ̷̨͟t̛ó͞ ̵͠h͜a̛ve͟͡ ͞͡a w̷͏o̴͜r҉d̢̛ w̢it͘͝h ỳ̢̕ou͟,̷͠͝ ̸̛i̸͝f̀͏ yo͡͡ų̴̕ ̡̀͏wo̧͟ù̷l̸͜͏d̨ņ'̸t̕͞ m͢ì͜ņ͜d͞͡.͘͘"́ (I'm so sorry that we had to meet like this. We would like to have a word with you, if you wouldn't mind.) You relaxed a bit after hearing the familiar intonation.

“It’s fine,” you partially lied. Frankly, you were still terrified and you had the urge to isolate yourself from everything. You always felt like this after they fight, which wasn’t very often. The last time made you take shelter at Danny’s place because you couldn’t stand the unnatural silence and heavy atmosphere. You buried the bad memory back into its grave when the face on the left scoffed in annoyance.

"̀W̧e̵̷͡'҉r̵e ̷̡͠run͜n̴͜i̛̕ng̛ ̀͢o̡҉u͏̕̕t̢̛ ҉o̢f̕ ͏t̨i̴͟mę͝,̕"̸̛  (We’re running out of time,) it said curtly. "̵The̶ ̷̶ot́͝͞he̡̕ŗ̛҉s̸͜ ̀͜w̴̵i̡̧͡l̢͢l̷͠ g̴̸̡e̸̡̨t͠͝ ͢s͘͢u̵̡s͜͞p̡͘͡i͜͠ci̷͝o̷͘͝u͘s͢ ̛͠ì̸f͘͏ w̛e̴͏̛ ̡keep͢͟͜ t͠h̴͝èm̷ ͏h͏̕ere͢ ̶̀͝f̸̢͘o̸̡͞r͞ ̷̀t͞o͢o ̴̢͞l̡on̵̨g̸.͝҉͡"͢ (The others will get suspicious if we keep them here for too long.)

"͞A͜l̡̨͞r͝i͠g͝ht҉̸͟ ҉t͢h̛͏͏en͟͏,̸̛͝ ͘͟I͘'҉l̕l̶̨͠ ̴̴cut̷̡ ͡it̵̢ ͜s̛̕͠h̨͜ò̀r̵̷͢t.̷̧̨ ̨Ỳ̴o̴͞u m͠ùs͘t̨̨ ͞͝n͝o̷҉̸t̷͜͜ l͞e̕͟͠t҉͡ ̨̕̕y̨͠o̵̡͠u҉͡r͟͡ ͢͜e͘m̴̡o͘͝t͢i̵͟ó͘nś ͏̨͞c̸̸o͟n̢͠҉tro͏l͘ ҉̸y̵̨o̡̧͏u͝r̸̨҉ ą͟c͘͡tįon͡s̴̡͠.͞ ͠T҉̡͢hí͟s̶͞ p̛la̢͏c͞e̴ ̢̧̕i͡s͏ ̶̸́al̵͜r̸̢ea͘d̵y̨̛͢ ́͜f̷́́r̕á̀͟g͘i̸le a͏n͜d҉̶ ̢i͟f ͠it ̷̨fą͝l̨͝ls͞,̕ ̷̸s̡o̴ wi҉͘̕l̵͢l ̴͟y͏o͜u̴̡͡.͏́"̷̷͢  (Alright then, I'll cut it short. You must not let your emotions control your actions. This place is already fragile and if it falls, so will you.)

"͜I͡ţ͟'̵s̨͘ ͏ti̸͢m̶e̴ t̕o̶̢ ̷̨wak͟e̷͘ ̴ų͢p̸,̡"͏́ (It’s time to wake up,) they both said in eerie unison, sounding more like television static with each word. You couldn’t make sense of its advice, but you needed to have one of your questions answered before you ran out of time.

“Tell me who you are!” You assumed that you had missed your chance when you opened your eyes. The sentence that was echoing in your head said otherwise.

**_We are W.D. Gaster._ **

You mumbled the name to yourself; it felt like reuniting with an old friend after years of long distance contact. You were lying on an old green couch, covered with a musty navy-blue blanket in a dark room. You could make out Chara and Frisk sleeping on the floor near you. Part of you wanted to wake them up and ask if they had sorted everything out, but it was easier to go for a walk outside instead. You wrapped yourself in the blanket, tiptoed to the door, and whispered that you’ll be back shortly. After softly closing the door, you took a deep breath of the cold air.

"͞L̷͡o͠͝c͡͡͝k̸̢ th͏̶e͢ ̡̧d̛̀́o͢ò̵͞r͡͡!͟ ̀̕T̛̕he͘r͠͞è̷̡ ̵̀s̛̀h̶̀͢ould͟͞҉ ̷͠bè̶ ̡͢a͡ ͏s̶̷̛p̨͏a̧r̨̀͡e ̛k̀͠è̵͡y͏̷̡ ̕nȩ͢ąŕ͞ ̨҉P̴̧͜ą̧ṕy̸r̴̶̕u̧͜s'̨͝s ̀͠m̴͟͞ail̸b̢̛͢ò̷x.̶͞"͢͡ (Lock the door! There should be a spare key near Papyrus’s mailbox.) You hastily followed orders, not wanting to endanger your friends again. You shoved the key in your pocket and trudged away from the house, leaving you alone with the two Gasters.

_Alright, how am I going to address one from the other? I can’t just call you both W.D. Gaster._

"͏̶I͟ ̶s̴̢̕u̴͜p̨̧̕p̕o͡ş͢e̵͟͡ ҉̷̨w͘e ̷̴͢c̵͟a̶n̡͝ ̛͜͝s̵̀p̷̶͘l̶̵̛i̢͜t̷͢͠ ̵̶͜t͞hę̕ ̵̵͘nam̛͘͟e̢ ̷̧a̷f̵̵ţ͠͝e͟r̷͟ ̷àl͡l.̵͘"̵̧̡ (I suppose we can split the name after all.)

_How?_

"̶͞͏O͟u̸ŗ ̕f̨͢u͞l̡͝l̛ ǹ͟a̵me̵ ̴̀͞i͞ş̸ ͟W͘͏͝i͢n̨͘g͞ ͏͞D̴̷i͘ņ̵g̀҉ ̷͟G͞a̢s̵t̕͜͏e̢͜͜r̀, ̷͡b͏́͢ų̀t̸͝͡ ̧w҉̡e̶ ̷d҉ơ͘ ̷̸͟aǹ͡ś̨w̨̛͡e̴r̡͘ ͏̢t͟҉҉o ̡Ẁ͝͠i̸͟ng͘͠ ̷D͜i͘ng ̢ǫ̴͜r͘͏͟ ҉As͜te͝r̨͡ ̸f̨͘͠ŕ̕o̸m͢ ti̡m̸è̛̕ ͏ţo t̀i̕me.͏"̸ (Our full name is Wing Ding Gaster, but we do answer to Wing Ding or Aster from time to time.)

"̛Y̡ǫ̧͜u͡͏̡ ͝͏ca̸n ͝͠r͏ef͡ę̛͡r̴̢̛ ̢͘͟t̛o̶ y̷̷͠o͟urs̨͝el̷͞f̛҉ a̸s ́͢W͏͏i̢n̶g͝͠ ̢̢D̶͡ì҉n̶҉ǵ.͘͠ ͏͢I̢͡ ̷̀ơ̕n̛͡l̀ý̧ ͢us̴e̸͘͞ ͢A̛͞st̷̡͘er͏̴̡;̸̷ ͘͝i͞t͏͡'͟s̡ m̷or̨͞é͞ s̨u͘҉i̷͡t͝͠ab̨̨͟l̡̀e̴͠ ̷̀͟f́͘o̡̧͟r̷̸ ̴̸t̨h͟͞ȩ͠͞ ̧͜͟Ro͏͡y͟a͢l̶̀ ͢S͏̵́cí̢e҉̶҉ǹ̷ţ͞i͟s̶̨t̴̛͠ o͘f̢̕͡ ͡t͜͠h͢e̢ ̷̢͠D̶͢r͘ee͠͡m̴͢͠u͢͞r̨͠r̵͞ ҉͟f̀àm̴̛͢i҉҉ly͘."̧ (You can refer to yourself as Wing Ding. I only use Aster; it's more suitable for the Royal Scientist of the Dreemurr family.)

_When would you use Wing Ding?_

"̡I̕͝ ̕͟͡w̧͢ó̶u҉͜l͏d͝ ́u͏s̷͠e̴͢ ̴i̡t̨̕ ̴͝i̧̕͜f̸͏ ͏͞the͜ ҉ǫn̕l̢y͝ ơ̡t̨h҉é̶͟r͠ ̷͢͟c̢h͡ǫ͠͡i̢̧c͟͜ę͜ ̶̨w̕͟͢à̷s̀ ̡͞a͜͜ ҉v͟e͘͝͞r̵̢͡y̶͠ ҉un͘͡p̕͢͟l̴͡e҉̢a̴san̶̶͏t̵͡ ͡n҉̧̕ic͢͟k͢͝n̢̕am̴̵e̶ ͏͏t̨͘͡h̶͠a̸t͘ ̀͘͘a̴͟ ҉͢͡ce͟rt̶̛͘ą͢į́́ņ̶ ̢̢́s͡o̕͜͠m͜͞e͜ǫ̶ǹ̢e̶ ̧g͟͡a͠v͢é͏͞ ̴̧͞ţ̸o͢͡ m̷̧͠e̵͡.̴ ͠Ì̴͟ ́҉b̸̨el͏̷͡i͘͟e͘͏v͜ę it̕͡͡ ̸w̵̢͟ą̵s̨͝ ͏́Jer̵͜k͟f̷̶͠ac̡̛e̵ ̴͢M͟c͠g̀̀͝e̶e.̢͘͡"̸ (I would use it if the only other choice was a very unpleasant nickname that a certain someone gave to me. I believe it was Jerkface Mcgee.)

You started to look around to subdue your guilt before it could branch out. The new environment easily diverted your attention with the tiny floating lights and the soothing sound of water. You couldn’t hold back your amazement as you stared at the enchanting scenery, completely ignoring the fact that you went farther than you had originally intended. The sand beneath your shoes didn’t swallow your feet with each step. The dark blue walls that were illuminated by the tiny orbs of yellow light created a sense of submergence. The sound of rushing water was growing louder, enticing you to wander farther into the new area. While gingerly touching the key in your pocket, you eventually came across a bright blue flower.

"T͟͢h̵͢à̕t̡ i҉s̀ an ̸͏͡ę́͢c̷h̢ó̷ ́͝f̕͢͡l̵o̵͘we̵͏̷r.̡ ͏҉Ít͏ ŗep̸̷҉e͏͝a̛͢t̷̛s̶̀ ̵t̡͘͟h̛é ̷̛͢la҉s̸̴̨t̕͘ t̷h̵in̷̛g̶̶͠ tḩ̶̧ą̷̛t͏ ҉̴͘i̧͠t ͘͡h͘e͏á̷͠rd̸͜,̵̕ ̨́͏s̴҉o̸͟ ̨͝r̀e̷͟f̸͡r̶͠a̛i̴͠ǹ͜͞ ̸̧f̡́͞r̷͢͏o̴̸̕m̴͜ ͏s̷̕c̀͝͡r̡͟e͟͢͞a͠m͘͟iņg ̧͞i͡n̴҉t̷̵ǫ̷ ̴͜it̴, p͢l͞easę̨.̢͜"̸̵̧ (That is an echo flower. It repeats the last thing that it heard, so refrain from screaming into it, please.)

You leaned closer to the flower, hoping to hear something new and interesting before talking to it.

“Thanks for coming in tonight. The crowd usually gets rowdy when the usual suspects aren’t there.”

“No problem. Is your daughter still ignoring you?”

“No, but we barely stay in touch. I wonder if it was a smart move to raise the little spark on my own instead of hunting down her real parents.” The rest of the conversation faded away, leaving you unsatisfied. It was your turn to talk with the echo flower and you didn’t have enough courage to confess about Wing Ding, Aster, and that odd memory from before. You didn’t want to face Chara and Frisk either, so you sang the song that calmed you down. Wing Ding started to hum along, even though there was absolutely no logical explanation that explained why he knew the notes. The only song you had sung in his company was “Fly Me to the Moon.”

The gravity of your current situation was too overwhelming for one person. The times you had almost died, the amount of careless mistakes you made, and the two versions of W.D. Gaster in your head was towering over you. The fight between Frisk and Chara was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It felt as if everything had collapsed and buried you.

“I can’t even bring myself to vent to a flower to top it off,” you sighed while taking a seat next to the echo flower. As if your string of bad luck decided to make things worse, you felt a knife suddenly pressed against your throat.

“Maybe it’ll be easier if you talk to me. Let’s start with that neat tune you were singing earlier. How the hell do you know **his** song?” You heard talking in the distance, so you tried to shake off your attacker and scream for help. Your assailant caught wind of your plan and covered your mouth and nose with their gloved hand.

"Sorry, but I can’t let you do that.” While you were gradually losing consciousness, you noticed the smell of burning ash wood on the glove.


	12. (Note from Me to You)

Hi everybody! I'm really sorry for my sudden absence; a lot of things has happened these past months. I'll summarize it in a list:

-I'll be graduating in June, so I've been swamped with tests, essays, AP exam practice (even though I wasn't taking any >:C), and similar school things.  
-I'm seeing a therapist and it's really helped me control most of my stress and anxiety!  
-I'll be the 2nd person in my whole family that goes to college, so I've been trying to figure out the process (guidance counselor was quite stubborn on the idea of all students should go to a state college and they could afford that)  
-I lost the flash drive that I had this story on. (I found it again, so crisis averted!)  
-My grandfather passed away (I didn't know him that well, but I still wanted to pay my respects.)  
-My version of Microsoft Word isn't genuine, so the spacing is odd and irritating.  
-I'm looking for a part-time job!

The few free time I had was spent trying to relax, a word of advice from my therapist, and it tore my heart realizing I left all of you without a new chapter for so long. Unfortunately, you might have to wait longer for the real Chapter 12. The earliest I could promise is this Friday.

Again, I'm so sorry and I hope you could forgive me! I still read your comments and I'll get back to responding to each and every one of you with the next chapter! Hopefully, I'll see you all on Friday!

-Miss Wisteria Witch


	13. Chapter 12: It Is Never Too Late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray, I'm finally finished with this chapter! I have the fear that I'm slowly getting worse with each one, but I'm not stopping until I finish the whole story! In other news, I graduated yesterday and I have a busy schedule ahead, so the wait for the next chapter will be long again. To be honest, Undertale and I don't really click anymore ever since I ran into some "intense" fans in the past. 
> 
> I'll still try to finish this, but if there is an absence of passion or focus, you know why. I can't thank you enough for your support and kind words. (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

"̶̢W͡e͟͝ m͢ust́͟ ̷̢s҉̕to̶p̶҉̡ ̡́͡ḿ̸̴e̶͡͞e͠t̕҉i͡n͢͡ǵ͠ l̸i̴̛k̕͡e̸͝ ̧͘t̢̧hi̶̧s̵̛,̶"͜ (We must stop meeting like this,) Aster said while rolling his eyes at you. "͠I̕͜ ̷̸̢i͟͠͡n̡̨s͢͞is͝t,̀͏ ̡̛ḿ̴y̷̧ ̴d͠e̸͜a̴̧r͢ m҉̀o͡u͞͠s͠è̛.̸̧͟"͡ (I insist, my dear mouse.)  He lured out your soul with his finger and you noticed that the grey parts were _pulsating_. With a flick of his wrist, the rest of your soul turned blue and your body felt heavier than before. Aster raised his outstretched arm with a smirk on his face. Although you should’ve been worrying about what he was going to do to you, you noticed that Aster and Sans were more alike than at face value.

_The apples don’t fall too far from the tree._ You watched your soul float up to meet his hand, brushing off the fact that you were now levitating. Wing Ding’s absence, along with Aster’s left eye socket now glowing purple, set off alarms in your head. He yanked his arm down with ferocity, throwing your body in the same direction. You stared in fake disbelief at him before diverting your attention to the pitch black ground.

You had jumped a bit when you woke up and it took you longer than you would’ve liked to admit to process that you weren’t dreaming anymore. When your eyes adjusted to the poorly lit room, you saw that you were fettered to a metal chair with somewhat rusty chains. The sound of old-timey music was loud enough to drown out your voice.

_Alright, time for Plan B._ You hopped around, tugging at the chains in hopes of finding and breaking a weak link. By the time you were running out of breath, the music had stopped and the door creaked open. You froze like a deer in the headlights of a car when you came face to face with your kidnapper. He was made entirely of green flames that transitioned into different shades with a jagged, jack-o-lantern-esque grin plastered on his face. It looked like he had just stepped out of _The Nightmare Before Christmas_. It took the majority of your willpower to not laugh when he adjusted his glasses in that stereotypical anime style.

“Well, well, well,” he said as he sauntered closer. “You’re finally awake.”

_No shit, Sherlock. You want a prize for pointing that out?_ You realized how close he was when he placed his hands on your shoulders after removing his gloves. The fire, despite being a completely color, reminded you of Toriel and how worried she must be. The heat was unpleasantly warm, almost disgusting if you could say that, and you had a feeling that it would only get worse.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Just answer all of my questions if you don’t want to get scorched. We wouldn’t want you to get damaged before you’re sent to King Asgore.”

“I don’t know if this is a good time to play Twenty Questions, Copper. I’m _all tied up_.” You didn’t know whether he groaned at the pun or the nickname, but it was satisfying to hear it. You noticed that the heat from his hands wasn’t unbearable anymore. Maybe you could use this to your advantage? You couldn’t test if he had multiple reactions to a pun because he asked his first question.

“What is the name of the monster who had sung that song over and over like a broken record?”

“W.D. Gaster,” you replied honestly. The tip of fire on the top of his head briefly flared and whipped around.

“You shouldn’t say his name so easily, punk. There are many monsters that hated him just for existing. What was his profession?”

“The Royal Scientist of the Dreemurr family. Since you used past tense, I’m going to guess that someone took his place.”

“His protégé, Alphys, is trying to her best to crush his accomplishments with her own. She’s part of the reason why you can’t say his name casually. Here’s the last question before I decide if I really want to send you to Asgore. As you may have figured out by now, I am one of the few who remembers him. Describe my relationship with W.D. Gaster.”

_That doesn’t sound like a question._

"͢͢͝W̶͝e ͏w̷ere ͏̸g̛o̴͜͝o̷̧͝ḑ ̷́͡f̛͜ŗ̨i̛̕e̵͢nd̸҉͟s ̵́t̀͡h̶a̧t̢̡͠ m̵͝e̵̢t ̷̴i͞n̶̡ u̢n̕f̨o̧r͠t̸̀҉ư̢̛n̷a̡te͜ ̴͠c̢̧̨i̵͢r̛cư͞m̸s͝t̀͢͢a̸͜n͠c̕e͏͞s͡.̴́ ̸̀T̴èl̴̕l ̷h͝i̛m҉̛͜ ̸̢t͢͟h̕ąt ̡͟i͡n̨s̀͘͟t̀͡ea̷d́ ͡of̸̧͢ ̕̕c̸̕ąŗ̷͝ęl̴͜͡e̴̢s̵̢͘s̕͟l̡̀y ̡͜t̶̸h҉̵̸r̸͟òw̡̢̕ín̢͏g̵̀͞ ̛͟͞y̛͠ó̵́u͞͝r͡s̨e͞l͜͡f̕ i̵̧n̛t̷o̷͠ ͘á҉͜ ͏̧̛s̷ḩál̴̛l͜ow̴̴̛ ͞g҉͏ŕav̨e͞,"͝ (We were good friends that met in unfortunate circumstances. Tell him that instead of carelessly throwing yourself into a shallow grave,) Aster demanded. You parroted his exact words in a dull, robotic voice so you could mock Aster without Copper thinking it was for him. Copper released his grip on you, let out a frustrated sigh, and grumbled incoherently.

“You even used the same words as him. How the hell do you know this shit? On second thought, don’t answer that one. I have a better idea.” He placed his hand on the middle of your chest and you tried not to recoil from the blistering heat. He wasn’t going to burn you alive after you willingly cooperated, right? As if he was handling something fragile, he slowly extracted your soul and let it hover above his right hand. The green flames occasionally licked it, making you feel the sensation of a touching something burning for a split second. The grey parts were pulsating again, but why?

The sound of your ringtone broke the silence of the room, but he was absolutely mesmerized with your soul. In that moment, you were glad that you had left it on maximum volume because someone was banging on the door shortly after it started to play. Whoever it was, they didn’t give Copper enough time to come back to reality and react; the door was obliterated in seconds.

“knock knock, grillby!” Sans walked in with a bottle of mustard in one hand and Toriel’s phone in the other. To your surprise, Copper had shielded your soul as if Sans was here to kill you instead of rescuing you. Augie, nearly knocking Sans down like a bowling pin, flew over to you and started to bite at your chains.

“You collaborated with Sans,” he sighed. “I should’ve prepared for that.”

“wow, you forgot about me, your favorite customer in the underground?” He looked shocked at your captor before reverting back to his usual grin.

“Oh please, you’ll get over it. Just like you’ll get over this human once you killed them and tossed their rotting carcass in a ditch.”

“i guess you’re not gonna hand them over without a fight, huh? fine with me; i always thought that someone needed to help you take that stick out of your ass.” Two more blasters appeared behind Sans while “Grillby”, you weren’t exactly sure if it was a nickname or not, removed his tie and glasses.

“Behave yourself and hold this for me.” He placed the two items on your lap, ignoring your clever remark about causing trouble while tied to a chair. The sound of Augie gnawing at your chains made you realize that it would be best to not draw attention, which meant holding your tongue and hoping that Sans could distract him long enough for you to make your escape.

“Let’s make a wager for old times’ sake. If you win, I’ll hand over the human.” Without letting him finish, Sans ordered the blasters to fire nonstop. The monster sidestepped out of the way, moving closer to Sans with ease. Once he was within range, he tossed a fireball at his opponent. It veered to left and engulfed a keg.

_Shit, shit, shit._

“Augie, can you please drag my chair back? More preferably, away from the keg over there?” While it was moving you and trying to free you at the same time, you couldn’t help but be mesmerized with the fight. The green flame creature moved gracefully with small flames circling around him. Sans darted between bones and blasters with his grin wider than usual. The fire monster hurled his fist towards his skull, but he moved away and summoned bones from the ground. The contrast of the green flames against pale white bones was eerily fascinating; you almost forgot about the keg for a moment. You threw yourself to the ground and hoped that the debris wouldn’t hit you. The keg exploded when Sans tried to land a kick. Both monsters were oblivious to the pieces of metal and the sound of Augie snapping through your chains was drowned out by the blast.

You tried to run away, but you were quickly knocked down by a fireball. The feeling of unbearable heat tearing your skin made you scream. Sans’s attention unfortunately switched to you which left him defenseless against a kick to his skull. He crashed into the ground and you felt the flames disappear with a snap of the monster’s fingers. He adjusted his cuffs while staring at the both of you in disappointment.

“Why didn’t you let me finish speaking,” he said to Sans. “And didn’t I tell you to behave? Hopefully that will teach you to follow orders.” You gritted your teeth in frustration and to drive your attention away from your burns.

“ya want me to pay my fucking tab. every damn time it ends the same way, so might as well skip to the fun part.”

“I was actually going to let that slide for today, but thanks for reminding me.” He picked up Sans by the collar and held him so that they were face to face.

“ **Pay your fucking tab, you lazy deadbeat.** ” The fire monster momentarily dropped Sans, only to pick him up again with both hands curled around his skull. You froze in horror as Sans screamed in agony, kicking and gripping the arms that were singeing him. You tried to reach out to Wing Ding and Aster for anything that would help.

But nobody came.

Grabbing the nearest piece of debris, you lobbed it at the monster before sprinting out the doorway and shouting an apology. You assumed Augie had blocked the doorway after you ran because you heard a single blaster being fired soon after.

“run,” you heard Sans shout as you climbed up the stairs and maneuvered through the hallway. After swinging a door open, you found yourself behind the bar of a cozy restaurant. The sound of hurried footsteps made you catapult yourself over the counter, grab the door handle of the exit, and ram your body into the door with fervor. Unfortunately, that last thing made you fall into the snow, but the contact brought temporary relief to your burns. You quickly picked stood up and ran to the silhouette of the entrance sign in the distance. By the time you decided to make the stupid mistake of looking behind you, you had charged straight into another monster.

“THERE YOU ARE, HUMAN! DID YOU KNOW HOW MUCH PRECIOUS TIME I HAD WASTED LOOKING FOR YOU? ARE ALL HUMANS SO VEXATIOUS? FIRST, IT WAS THE OTHER TWO SQUABBLING OVER MY OFFER AND NOW…” You hugged Papyrus to stop the tears from flowing. You didn’t care that the jury was still out on whether or not you should trust him; you just were thankful to run into someone familiar. The sound of someone whistling broke the moment; your abductor had finally caught up to you.

“GRILLBY,” Papyrus said sternly. “I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION AS TO WHY YOU ARE CHASING THIS HUMAN. “

“I just wanted some answers from them and your brother decided to get in my way. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve returned the human without a single mark.” Papyrus shoved you behind him; a large bone materialized in his right hand.

“NORMALLY I WOULDN’T BOTHER TO ENGAGE MYSELF WITH MY BROTHER’S PROBLEMS, BUT I MUST MAKE AN EXCEPTION WITH THIS ONE.” The image of Sans screaming in pain flashed in your head, making you throw yourself in between them.

**_Enough is enough._ **

“No one is going to fight until **I know what the fuck is happening!** We’re going back to the restaurant with **everyone** and have a nice chat **like civilized beings** , okay?!” The brief moment of silence was a clear indication that you had shouted at the top of your lungs. The sound of the fire monster chuckling made you jump and turn to face him.

“You certainly are an interesting one. Be careful, I might want to keep you around for a while.”

_I am not going to deal with this shit. If it comes to that, I’ll sick Chara and Frisk on you._

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, this was supposed to be just an underfell fic  
> But then I started to see grown-up character designs as well. Despite how much I fought against it, the two ideas merged in my head with the many "what-if" questions I had, forming this! The mature rating is for some of the fight scenes and the not-so-kid-friendly language in the future.
> 
> Frisk, Chara, and the Reader are all ambiguous in terms of gender and they are in a polyamorous relationship. I won't be bringing it up a lot though, since romance isn't exactly my forte.
> 
> EDIT 1/24/16: The Underfell Blog was deleted, so just type Underfell into the tumblr search bar to see what I mean.


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